Mississauga IceDogs defeat Oshawa Generals in opening round

Last night the OHL Mississauga IceDogs made franchise history by defeating the Oshawa Generals 6-1 in the seventh game of their first round series. For the IceDogs, it is their first ever playoff series win in franchise history.

Nineteen-year-old OHL rookie center Lukas Grauwiler from Zurich, Switzerland was the game’s first star, collecting a goal and an assist along with a plus two rating. Fellow rookie center Cody Bass chipped in with an assist. It was the second point of the playoffs for the 17-year-old and earned him the game’s second star honor. Detroit Red Wings defensive prospect Kyle Quincey picked up two assists, giving him four for the playoffs, and was named third star.

In the series overall, goaltender David Shantz continued his strong play and leads all playoff goalies with a 1.34 GAA, .945 save percentage, and two shutouts. Shantz is ranked second for North American goalies for the 2004 entry draft by the Central Scouting Bureau after WJC gold medalist Al Montoya of the University of Michigan.

Third year veteran left wing Tom Zanoski leads the IceDogs with a total of seven points for the 2004 playoff campaign.

Right wing Brad Efthimiou, the team’s second leading scorer in the regular season, potted one goal and has three points thus far (1 goal, 2 assists).

Rookie winger Chad Painchaud finished the series with one goal and two assists as well. He’s ranked 41^st by the CSB for North American skaters in the upcoming entry draft.

The Minnesota Wild’s Patrick O’Sullivan was a factor in virtually every game of the series and had an assist in game seven which gave him a total of six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in this post season. He is the IceDogs all time playoff scoring leader with seventeen points (4 goals, 13 assists) and will continue to add to that total in the team’s next series.

The Generals hung in with the IceDogs through the series, forcing a seventh game after a dramatic game six win in which Philadelphia Flyers’ antagonist Ben Eager scored at 3:29 of the second overtime, sending the series back to Mississauga. The chippy left winger finished the series with a team leading five points and a whopping thirty one minutes in penalties. He ended the 2003-04 regular season second in scoring for the Generals with 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists), and eighth in the OHL for PIMs with 204.

Nineteen-year-old right wing Chris Hulit finished the series with three goals and one assist. He is ranked 102^nd for North American skaters by the CSB for the 2004 entry draft.

Ranked 23^rd by the CSB for 2004, left wing Adam Berti finished the series with only two assists and a minus five rating. He accumulated forty six points (17 goals, 29 assists) in sixty five games during the regular season.

OHL rookie defenseman Bret Nasby, ranked 88^th, finished the series with three assists, almost half of what the defensive defenseman collected in the regular season (0 goals, 7 assists).

The IceDogs next series begins tomorrow, April 1^st, versus the Barrie Colts in Barrie. The winner will appear in the Eastern Conference Finals against either the St. Michael’s Majors or Brampton Battalion.

The IceDogs had a slight edge on the Colts in the season series (2-1-3) and will continue to rely on top performances from all of their players starting with Shantz.

Last season was the IceDogs first playoff appearance and they lost in five games to the Ottawa 67’s, who eventually went on to lose to the Kitchener Ranger’s in the OHL finals.