“How do you spell fun? W-I-N right?”

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

With their playoff position secured going into the final game of the regular season, the Oshawa Generals may have had only one thing on their minds when they stepped onto the ice against the Peterborough Petes on March 19 – putting on a good show for their fans.

It was certainly at the forefront of Riley Stillman’s mind.

Thanks to a hat trick off the stick of the Florida Panthers prospect, the Gens came out on top 4-2 in a close defensive match-up with their OHL rivals.

Stillman opened the scoring in the first period with a shot from the point that beat Petes goaltender Scott Smith. However, before the period was out, Pavel Gogolev would tie the game for the Petes.

It didn’t take long for the Gens to jump back ahead when Stillman fired another shot from the point that beat Smith only 40 seconds into the second frame to put Oshawa up 2-1. The game would remain scoreless at the end of the second period with the shots tied at 16 apiece.

The Petes would hang on and tie the game after the halfway mark of the final period off a tipped shot that beat Kyle Keyser. However, it would be Stillman yet again, pushing his way in from the point and firing a shot past Smith to complete his first career hat trick. Captain Joe Manchurek would add the empty netter to seal the deal for Oshawa.

After the game, Stillman said following the second goal, he could feel the third wasn’t far off.

“I felt like I was going to get another one on the bench,” he said. “It was a great goal for me and it helped us win, which is even better.”

The trio of goals brought Stillman to 11 on the season, nearly doubling his previous year’s production.

“It’s quite an accomplishment,” says head coach Bob Jones. “Regardless of your position, to get a hat trick in a hockey game is something to be very proud of.”

With the regular season wrapped up, the Gens finish in third place with a 40-23-3-2 record for 85 points, behind the division-leading Petes and Mississauga Steelheads.

Now, with a Sudbury Wolves victory on Tuesday night over the Steelheads, Oshawa will turn their attention to the Wolves for round one.

Prior to their opponent being determined, there was a chance if Subdury had lost on Tuesday, that Oshawa would face the Ottawa 67s in round one, but Jones noted it really didn’t matter who this weekend’s opponent would be.

“Both teams are dangerous,” he says. “Both teams have strengths and both teams have weaknesses and you’ve got to get through everybody if you want to win.”

Jones noted once they knww who would be making the trip to the TCC on Friday, they would start to put a game plan together. For the players, they said they’re ready for whichever opponent comes knocking.

“I don’t think it really matters,” said Medric Mercier. “I think we’re going to bring our game regardless and (we’ve) just got a big week ahead in practice and getting ready for whichever team it’s going to be.”

Come playoff time, players know that anything can happen, and because of that, Stillman says the Gens will be ready for anything.

“Playoffs are a whole different story,” he says. “If we play like we did today moving forward here, we should be good.”

Manchurek said whether it was Sudbury or Ottawa, he knows one thing: Oshawa’s fans will be behind the Gens 100 per cent.

“Our fan base is great,” he says. “Those first two games are huge on the weekend and I’m sure the crowd is going to get us going with their chants and what-not, but it’s definitely great momentum and we’ve got to take advantage of it for sure.”

And with the regular season wrapped up, Jones says he’s happy with how things have progressed over the last 68 games.

“I think the team showed improvement from last year to this year and that was our biggest focus,” he says. “We wanted to make sure our young guys were getting good development time. The young guys that came in got to play, so yeah, I think this season was a success.”

The end of the season also means several Oshawa Generals, including, Manchurek Mercier, Mason Kohn and Alex Di Carlo have all played their final regular season games as junior hockey players.

“It hasn’t all soaked in yet,” Mercier says.

His captain says much of the same.

“You never think the day is going to come. It all goes by really quick,” Manchurek says. “You never really believe it when you’re a young guy and you blink and it’s over.”

Come Friday, Stillman knows the final victory over the Petes was a great way to build momentum moving into the playoffs.

“How do you spell fun? W-I-N right? When you’re winning, everything is fun, there’s good mojo, everyone’s happy, everything is going that way,” he says. “That win brought everybody up and excited to play playoffs for sure.”

Game 1 is set for this Friday, March 24 at the TCC at 7:35, followed by Game 2 on Sunday, March 26 at 6:05 p.m., both at the Tribute Communities Centre.