Victory at last

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

DJ Smith’s arm is outstretched, fingers splayed.

Aiden Wallace breaks out of the Oshawa Generals zone, past the Erie Otters defense, he puts the puck in the empty net.

Smith’s hand closes into a fist; the fist is pumped, before he throws his arms around the group of Generals jumping behind the bench.

Around them, more than 6,000 fans fill the bowl at the General Motors Centre, every one one of them on their feet, every one of them screaming.

Wallace’s marker sealed the deal on a 6-2 Oshawa Generals victory in Game 5 of the OHL final over the Erie Otters and saw the team hoist the J. Ross Robertson Trophy for the 13th time, and the first time since 1996/97.

Erie was on the board first in the opening frame, but Hunter Smith was able to even the score not long after with his ninth of the playoffs.

The Generals took control of the game in the second, scoring three unanswered goals in the first five minutes of the period. The tallies came from Sam Harding, Michael McCarron and Matt Mistele.

Mistele’s goal marked his team-leading 13th of the playoffs.

Erie would answer back with a goal to make it 4-2, followed by a bouncing puck off of Alex Debrincat to bring the game within one.

However, what could have been a blow to the Generals’ momentum was pulled back after officials ruled the puck was directed in off of Debrincat’s glove.

In the third period, the Gens’ defense would lock up, preventing no offensive action from Erie to get through to Kenny Appleby, who stopped 30 shots in the win.

Bradley Latour and Wallace would add the insurance goals in the third to seal the deal.

The buzzer rang and the sea of red erupted as the Generals poured onto the ice to mob Appleby behind the goal. Helmets, sticks and gloves littered the ice as the team congratulated one another and reveled in a win that nobody predicted at the start of the season.

The Generals’ win marks the first time a team from the Eastern Conference has won the OHL championship since the Peterborough Petes did it in 2005/06.

“So many people made fun of the Eastern Conference, said it’s easy. I don’t think they’re laughing today,” Smith said on the ice after the game.

He said the team’s defensive style caused a lot of other teams to overlook them as a contender.

“We were overlooked because a lot of teams scored more goals than us and it’s tough to keep selling. It takes a lot of people to buy in to play defense like that and a lot of unsung heroes,” Smith said.

For captain Josh Brown, he couldn’t think of a better way to cap off his junior career. “It’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “In my overage year like that, going out like this in front of this crowd, in front of these fans, I can’t even describe it right now. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Brown also credits the club’s defensive style with being the determining factor in the run for the championship.

“We all just bought into a defensive style of game. You know, everyone loves those high-flying teams and everyone counted us out from the beginning and continuously through the season, but we knew how good we could be and how good we are. So, we just bought into what our coach was saying to us and it works,” Brown says.

Brown, along with defensive partner Dakota Mermis, were key in shutting down star forward Connor McDavid, keeping him off the board in two games, including the final – something no team was able to do throughout the playoffs.

Brown says Mermis, who has previously won an OHL championship with the London Knights, was a key to the success.

“We just leaned on him for some wisdom. He’s shut down some pretty good players,” Brown said.

The win was a big one for goaltender Appleby, a four-year Oshawa Generals veteran. He stood strong for the Gens throughout the playoffs with a 0.922 save percentage and a 16-4 record. His first full year in a starter’s role with Oshawa, Appleby remained one of the top goaltenders throughout the league for most of the season.

He credits the players in front of him with much of his success.

“We’ve got a great team, a lot of people underestimated us, but we never doubted ourselves once,” he said.

Looking ahead to the Memorial Cup in Quebec City, which gets underway this week, Oshawa’s first game is May 23 against the Rimouski Oceanic.

The Gens will also face stiff competition from the host Quebec Remparts and the Kelowna Rockets.

For Brown, while the team may need to tweak a few things with these new opponents, Oshawa should be successful if they stick to their systems, he says.

The same was said by Mistele.

“Just play our game, we’re a great team,” he says. “We came in first for a reason, and so we’ve just got to stick to it.”

The Gens remained on the ice at the GM Centre long after the game was won, celebrating, taking pictures with family and, of course, hoisting the trophy.

For Smith, however, the celebrating won’t last long.

“We came to win the Memorial Cup. This is great, and we’ll celebrate this, but tomorrow morning when I get up, we’ve got a harder trophy to win.”

Puck drop for Oshawa’s first game in Quebec is 4:30 p.m. on May 23.