Toronto, Ont. – The Ontario Hockey League today announced Top Performers of the Week for the week of regular season games ending Sunday, October 17, 2021.
Generals’ Calum Ritchie Named OHL Player of the Week
Rookie forward Calum Ritchie of the Oshawa Generals is the OHL Player of the Week with a league-leading seven points including four goals and three assists over three games along with a plus/minus rating of plus-4.
The second overall pick of the 2021 OHL Priority Selection, Ritchie helped the Generals take wins in two of three games last week. The 6-foot-2, 178Ib. centre started with a goal and an assist in a 7-3 road loss to the Ottawa 67’s on Thanksgiving Monday. The Generals were back in the nation’s capital on Friday and this time came away with a 4-1 win as Ritchie scored midway through the third period. He saved his best performance for last, recording two goals and two assists in a 6-3 win over the visiting Peterborough Petes on Sunday night. Ritchie becomes the youngest Generals player to record four points in a single game since Michael Dal Colle did so back on Nov. 4, 2012. His five-game goal-scoring streak brings him in line with John Tavares, who accomplished the feat in the month of January 2006 during his exceptional status rookie season.
A 16-year-old native of Oakville, Ont., Ritchie’s six goals tie him with teammate Ryan Stepien for the League lead. He sits two points back of Sudbury’s Jack Thompson for the OHL lead in points, registering nine (6-3–9) through five games. His 28 shots on goal are the most in the OHL, and his 116 faceoffs are tied for second in the League. Ritchie is a graduate of the Oakville Rangers U16 program, a team he captained before being chosen second overall this past June.
Ritchie becomes the first Generals player to claim Player of the Week honours since Philip Tomasino last did so from January 6-12, 2020.
Other Player of the Week candidates included Calgary Flames prospect Jack Beck who posted four goals and two assists over three games as his Ottawa 67’s went 2-1. Soo Greyhounds winger Cole MacKay also recorded six points (2-4–6) as the Soo Greyhounds took four of a possible six points on the road. London Knights rookie winger Colton Smith was also given consideration after scoring five goals, including his first career OHL hat-trick as the Knights went 3-0 last week.
2021-22 OHL Players of the Week – Regular Season:
Oct. 11- Oct. 17 – Calum Ritchie (Oshawa Generals)
Oct. 4 – Oct. 10: Jack Thompson (Sudbury Wolves)
Knights’ Brett Brochu Named OHL Goaltender of the Week
London Knights netminder Brett Brochu is the OHL Goaltender of the Week with three wins, a 2.55 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
Brochu helped the Knights improve to a League-best 5-0 record with back-to-back wins over the Windsor Spitfires before edging the Sarnia Sting in a shootout on Saturday. He turned aside 35 of the 38 shots he faced in a 4-3 Thanksgiving Monday shootout road win over the Spitfires, stopping seven of eight Windsor shootout attempts. Brochu was up to the task on Friday when the Knights played host to the Spitfires, making 32 saves in a 5-1 win while drawing an assist on Max McCue’s first goal of the season. He wrapped up the weekend making 29 saves in a 5-4 overtime road win over the Sarnia Sting, none bigger than a game-saving overtime denial that led to a Sean McGurn game winner in transition.
A 19-year-old from Tilbury, Ont., Brochu leads OHL netminders with five wins on the season while posting a 2.49 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. He’s won 14 consecutive regular season games dating back to Feb. 14, 2020, part of a stretch in which he’s won 27 of 28 decisions since Dec. 29, 2019. The 6-foot, 176Ib. Brochu was a member of the OHL’s first all-rookie team during the 2019-20 season, leading the League with a 2.40 goals-against average to win the F.W. Dinty Moore Trophy. His 32 wins that season set a new Knights franchise record for rookie goaltenders. The former sixth round (114th overall) pick in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection made his professional debut with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2020-21, appearing in one game on May 16, 2021.
Also meriting consideration for the award this week was Ottawa Senators prospect Leevi Merilainen of the Kingston Frontenacs who played to a 2-0 mark while recording a 2.50 goals-against average and .912 save percentage. New York Islanders prospect Tristan Lennox of the Saginaw Spirit was also in the running, going 1-1 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
2021-22 OHL Goaltenders of the Week – Regular Season:
Mar. 11 – Mar. 17: Brett Brochu (London Knights)
Mar. 4 – Mar. 10: Tucker Tynan (Niagara IceDogs)
About the Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is a proud member of the Canadian Hockey League which is the world’s largest development hockey league with 60 teams in nine Canadian provinces and four American states. In addition to the OHL, the CHL is made up of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The CHL supplies more players to the National Hockey League and U SPORTS than any other league.
OHL Writers 