The Ontario Hockey League hits the mid-point of the season this week, with almost every team reaching the 34 game mark.
Tonight, the Owen Sound Attack will play their 34th game of the 68 game season when they faceoff with the Spitfires in Windsor.
As the midpoint arrives, the OHL’s Western Conference has taken a distinct form.
London, Plymouth and Kitchener sit in the upper tier of 3.
Sarnia is a swing team.
If they’re healthy and motivated, the Sting could easily contend with the top 3.
But key injuries primarily have pushed the Sting toward the middle tier in a group that includes the Spitfires, the Sault and Owen Sound.
Being in the middle tier is exactly where the Attack deserve to be based on the concrete results of the first half.
On the one hand, they’ve squandered points against lower ranked opponents like Erie, Saginaw, Sudbury twice and nearly blew a game at Kingston.
But that’s not to say they’re not capable.
Far from it.
I might be reaching here, but in the 4 head to head games with London, if Owen Sound scored 2 more goals overall and gave up 2 less, they might have garnered 8 points instead of 2.
Such is sport.
So the first half of the OHL season concludes for the Attack tonight at Windsor, the second half begins tomorrow at Sarnia.
I’m Fred Wallace