Philadelphia Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey became OHL Champions on Wednesday, sweeping the Oshawa Generals to punch their ticket to the Memorial Cup.
Philadelphia Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey became OHL Champions on Wednesday, sweeping the Oshawa Generals to punch their ticket to the Memorial Cup.
Philadelphia Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey became OHL Champions on Wednesday, sweeping the Oshawa Generals to punch their ticket to the Memorial Cup.
The Knights secured their sweep with a dominant 7-1 win over the Generals, helped in part by a goal and two assists from Barkey.
Both Flyers prospects came up huge in the Knights' playoff run—Bonk finished with seven goals and nine assists in 18 games, while Barkey recorded six goals and 21 assists in that same stretch. Barkey also had multipoint efforts in each game of the championship series.
"It's pretty surreal," Barkey said after lifting the J. Ross Robertson Cup. "You kind of dream growing up about these things, so to experience it with this group of guys is pretty surreal. Super proud of everyone on this team that chipped in. It's a super cool moment that I'll never forget...We worked so hard this year, and this was our end goal."
The Knights aren't quite finished yet, though. This win qualifies them for the Memorial Cup, a four-team tournament that will see the league winners of the OHL, WHL, QMJHL—alone with the host team Saginaw Spirit—battle it out to be crowned the national champion of the Canadian Hockey League.
Bonk and Barkey will play their first game of the tournament against fellow Flyers prospect Alexis Gendron and the Drummondville Voltigeurs (who recently won the QMJHL in a sweep of their own) on May 25.
"I think we've gotta just keep doing us," Barkey said of the Knights' strategy to win the Memorial Cup. "I think we're a resilient group, hardworking. I think when we stick to our game plan and play fast, we're gonna have success. We're gonna enjoy the next few days and then get our minds set on the Memorial Cup and get ready for game one."
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