Peterborough Petes Win OHL Championship After Beating London Knights

The Peterborough Petes are the final team to book their ticket to the Memorial Cup after defeating the London Knights in six games.

For the first time since 2006, the Peterborough Petes are OHL champions, capturing the J. Ross Robertson Cup with a 4-2 series win over the London Knights.

In the clinching game, the Petes managed to score when it mattered despite an excellent performance from London netminder Owen Willmore. They opened the scoring as OHL veteran Avery Hayes buried a backhander toward the end of the second period before a tense third frame.

The Knights tied the game about eight minutes into the final period as the Knights dumped the puck in and played the bounce perfectly, with Connor Federkow sending a pass out front to Max McCue who buried it in front. The Knights fought back with their season on the line.

The Petes weren’t about to fold though. Tucker Robertson, Peterborough’s leading scorer in the regular season, was ready to play hero one last time. The hard-working forward fought for position in front of the net when a point shot was sent his way. He found a way to get his stick in position, deflecting the puck past Willmore.

The Knights fought until the end. They pressured and pushed the Petes to their limits. London had a number of excellent chances late in the third period in an attempt to tie it up, but goaltender Michael Simpson stood tall, highlighted by an outstanding kick save on Sam Dickinson with under two minutes to go in the game.

The Petes held on to become OHL champions. Simpson backstopped the team to a memorable championship, and he earned the playoff MVP honors.

"It feels so surreal. It's obviously pretty cool to win the MVP, but that other trophy is way more important," Simpson told TSN postgame. "We battled through so much adversity here, and to come out on top, I think it shows everybody we're the real Petes. We had a ton of doubters in the second half after the trade deadline, and all I want to say is look where we are now."

After a season in which the Petes had some ups and downs resulting in being seeded fourth in the Eastern Conference, the Petes went through quite the gauntlet of teams en route to the OHL title. After sweeping the fifth-seeded Sudbury Wolves, they took down the OHL’s top-seed Ottawa 67's in the second round before defeating the second-seeded powerhouse North Bay Battalion in seven games to reach the OHL final.

Peterborough was rewarded with taking on a perennial contender, the London Knights, in the OHL final with the league title and a trip to the Memorial Cup in Kamloops, B.C., on the line. Despite an opening game win for the Knights, Peterborough won the next four of fives matches to secure the OHL championship.

The London Knights have a young team that should be one of the favorites to challenge for the OHL title next year, but the Petes were built to compete and win this season. With young talents such as Denver Barkey, Sam Dickinson and Oliver Bonk to build around, the London Knights very well could be back here next season.

Mid-season Petes acquisition and New York Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann led the Petes in playoff scoring with 25 points, finally finding his footing with Peterborough. In many ways, his season personally reflected what the team went through.

Expectations were high for the Petes, especially after trading for Othmann along with Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck and OHL star Avery Hayes, among others. After a bit of a middling start with players finding their roles on a new team and chemistry not being immediate, they pulled it together towards the end of the season and were one of the most exciting teams throughout the playoffs.

Tucker Robertson, a heart and soul leader on the Petes, led the team in scoring through the OHL final with nine points. His huge four-point night in Game 2 got them back into the series, and his overtime-winner in Game 3 helped put the Knights on their heels. He assisted on the game-opening goal and scored the game-winner in Game 6 as well. Robertson was a beast in all aspects of the game during the final as he has been for the last two years for the Petes.

Hometown kid J.R. Avon played a big role in the OHL final, scoring a massive breakaway goal in Games 3 and 4. Avon has been fantastic in the final, showing off the skill that had many intrigued as he entered the league.

Simpson did his job in net for Peterborough, doing enough in every game to ensure that he was the better netminder in the series. With London Knights star netminder Brett Brochu out of the series, 2005-born netminder Zach Bowen and Owen Willmore shared the net. Despite their best effort, neither was quite able to match the OHL veteran Simpson.

The Peterborough Petes' 2023 OHL title is their 10th in team history. They won in it all in 1959 (back when the OHL was the Ontario Hockey Association), 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1989, 1993, 1996, 2006. They’ve gone on to win the Memorial Cup just once in their franchise history in 1979. They will be vying for their second Memorial Cup title in Kamloops beginning on May 26.

The Petes were ready to go when the playoffs rolled around, and they came together when it mattered. The rollercoaster ride that was the 2022-23 Peterborough season wound up being worth the price of admission. They were champions once again.

Correction: The 2023 Memorial Cup is taking place in Kamloops, B.c., not Kelowna. We apologize for the error.