GENERALS WILL RELY ON TOP GUNS TO BATTLE FOR PLAYOFF SPOT

With the Ontario Hockey League season opening up Thursday in Barrie, what's in store for the Oshawa Generals?

After losing top scorer Ty Tullio to pro hockey, the already goal-starved Generals will have to work for everything they get this season.

That will mean a lot will be riding on the shoulders of super-prospect Cal Ritchie, top veteran Brett Harrison and high-scoring overage defenceman Lleyton Moore.

All three are expected to have first-rate seasons, though the Generals got a bad break, literally, when Harrison broke his fibula in a pre-season game in Guelph a few weeks ago.

He's expected to be out at least three to four more weeks, according to Generals GM Roger Hunt.

Ritchie, rated as high as sixth for the 2023 NHL draft, is expected to light up the scoreboard and could play with 2022 OHL first-round pick Beckett Sennecke, who has looked very impressive in pre-season. Sennecke has great hockey sense, smooth hands, and is a superb skater.

Experienced head coach Derek Laxdal, who has won the Memorial Cup as a player (1983 with Portland over the Generals) and 2014 as coach (of the Edmonton Oil Kings), says his goal is to turn Ritchie into a "200-footplayer. For him to be a real solid pro player, he's got to work at both ends of the ice. He's real pleasant to coach.

He's going to want to be open to the teaching our staff can provide," he said.

Goalie Patrick Leaver, coming off a solid 2021-22 season, will carry the bulk of the load in net, backed up by Brooklin's Carter Bickle. Leaver will have to be among the league's leaders in goals-against and save percentage (as he was last season) to keep the Generals

in games. He'll need help from a young defensive group, which will start the season with three 16-yearolds out of seven defencemen.

Moore, one of the top defencemen in the league, who is safe in all zones with the puck, the quarterback on the power play and will log heavy minutes on the blue line, will be the leader the young D-men can look up to and learn from. His experience will pay dividends for first-round pick Ben Danford, who shows early signs of being a smooth, puckmoving defenceman. Luca Marelli should take a big step forward in his second year. And David Bedkowski will get his chance to play as the team's second-round pick. Veterans Nikita Parfenyuk, Thomas Stewart and Blake Smith will have to play a steady game.

Other forwards including Stuart Rolofs, Ryan Gagnier, Cameron Butler, Matthew Buckley, Jordyn Ertel, Cooper Way, Andrew Whitton, Luke Torrance, Kimo Gruber, Tyler Graham and the recently acquired Dylan Roobroeck will have to step up and play their roles, according to Laxdal's system.

The coach hinted he needed to have "a little talk" to the players in the second intermission during Sunday's 5-0 win over an undermanned Peterborough Petes squad in exhibition play. The score was 1-0 at the time. Obviously that "little talk" had an impact.

How far the Generals go may depend on how well the team responds to Laxdal's coaching and their ability to play his system. Expect the team to try to be stingy on defence, eke out tight wins, and battle for a playoff spot in a tough Eastern Conference.

"We're going to be a hardworking team, and we're going to be a conditioned team. That may push some guys out of our lineup because they're going to be pushed by some young kids coming up. There is no spot given to anybody. They're going to have to earn their spot every night," said Laxdal.

The Generals open their home season Friday night at 7:35 p.m. against Ottawa.