FOHL Insider #1

Never has the market been so stagnant, and never has the divide between buyers and sellers been so dramatic. The trade deadline usually is an exciting time of rapid trades and blockbusters that rock the foundation of the league. It transforms contenders into favorites and separates the strong from the weak. Last year we saw Sault Ste Marie stake a claim to their eventual throne by acquiring Cam Dineen, Drake Rymsha and Will Bitten among others. We saw contenders like Mississauga pick up Jonah Gadjovich, Sudbury acquire Cole Fraser, London get Jordan Kyrou and the big showstopper trade where Michael DiPietro went to Saginaw. The sheer amount of star power available, and the more than half dozen teams with a legitimate chance at the Memorial Cup made for an exciting time. Activity was at an all time high, trade talks had everyone engaged for hours. 2018 Trade Deadline The outlook is a little more bleak a year later. If last season's deadline was a bustling metropolis...

December's Players of the Month brought to you by SkipTheDishes, official partner of the FOHL Player of the Month - Tye Felhaber (Ottawa 67's) On a team chock full of All-Stars, Felhaber has settled in nicely during his overager season. He's still searching for an NHL team to take a chance on him with a professional contract, and the 67 points in 40 games that the forward has produced certainly should be catching scouts eyes. He's also an incredible +53 on the campaign, basically whenever he steps on the ice he's scoring and the other team isn't. Goalie of the Month - Kyle Keyser (Oshawa Generals) His second time earning goaltender of the month honors, Keyser has the distinction of being the only goaltender to be named to this list and also be relegated to back up duties. He had been leading the league in goaltender statistics, but the Generals went out and upgraded with UPL from the North Bay Battalion. In his final season in the FOHL, time will ...

Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen In Carcosa. There lies a theory that the universe in which we inhabit is merely one of an infinite number of realities. A coalescence of space, time, matter, information and energy all mixed into one endless possibility. If the physical laws of universe remain constant, then we could experience existence through different plains of time without knowing when we exit or enter a new part of the multiverse. How does quantum theory apply to the FOHL, you might be asking? Two words. The Hamilton Bulldogs. Okay three words. On Friday, they finalized a blockbuster deal to acquire power forward Quinton Byfield. He's a strong candidate to be the 1st or 2nd overall pick in the NHL draft a season and a half from now. It's Hamilton's second true blockbuster trade, and where we might have experienced a rip in the space time continuum. If there was a Family Feud style consensus who th...

With weeks left until Christmas morning where families will be unwrapping presents under the tree, OHL scouts are mere months away from the OHL draft where they will be unboxing their newest stars under the bright lights of the draft floor. There's been something of a debate who should go #1 overall, and as of December, that debate has all but been settled. The OHL is expected to grant Shane Wright exceptional status to play as a 15 year old, and that makes him a clear cut favorite right now. There's been arguments in other players' favors, but right now, if I'm drafting first overall, I know who I'm taking. The dust has settled a little bit and we're halfway through the regular season, so what was once just a shot in the dark for rankings and mock drafting is becoming more of a science. Without further interruption, let's get right to it. 20th. Ethan Del Mastro (D) The Generals have gone all in this season, and the honey pot will be ...

The Oxford dictionary doesn't have an entry for bad idea, but separately defines bad as "unpleasant, full of problems", and idea as a "plan, or a thought". The Oxford dictionary doesn't have an entry for the Sudbury Wolves, but they'll soon become synonymous with an unpleasant plan full of problems. There have been some spectacularly bad ideas in history by people smarter than Wolves GM Don Di Clemente. America's favorite asshole inventor, Thomas Edison burned off his fingerprints trying to prove the existence of, and subsequently capture ghosts when apparently a simple phone call to a rag-tag team of busters would have sufficed. Serbian genius Nikola Tesla spent decades trying to invent an earthquake machine, because if there's one thing the world doesn't have enough of, it's earthquakes. And noted high-brow beverage maker Mountain Dew took the biggest tumble when they had the good sense to let the internet-that collective of ha...

November's Players of the Month brought to you by SkipTheDishes, official partner of the FOHL Player of the Month - Justin Brazeau (Ottawa 67's) The overager came alive in November, taking over the scoring lead in the league and providing a six point cushion on his next closest rival. His dominance has also carried the 67's through the month, and if he continues his torrent pace, he might finally draw the attention of NHL scouts. Undrafted through his OHL career, Brazeau is looking to get a pro contract after his season in Ottawa is over. Goaltender of the Month - Ivan Prosvetov (Erie Otters) He started to really elevate his game in late October, after the Otters shook the hockey world by dealing a certain superstar forward, and when expectations were that Erie was going to tank, that is when Prosvetov put the team on his shoulders. He's gone from being a good goalie to joining elite company in the league, and if he continues to drag the corpse of the Eri...

Wilbon : Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. Tony, a new study says it's the quality of your friendships that matter, not the quantity. So how would you rate our friendship? Kornheiser : I'm Tony Kornheiser. You consider us friends? Wilbon : Oh okay, it's like that. Kornheiser :  Welcome to PTI boys and girls! In today's episode we take a look at the comings and goings of the FOHL. With the Rise of Skywalker a month away from hitting theaters, we look at the rise of the hockey stick wielding aquatic mammals, we put an end to the #1 overall pick debate, we chat with one of the league's premier General Managers and preview the epic clash between good and evil. Rundown Erie Otters Wright/McTavish Antonio Borrelli Oshawa vs Ottawa Sellers Fortune Teller But we begin today with everyone's favorite success story in Ontario, and for that, we head down to Pennsylvania. Wilbon : I don't know why you call this a success story T...