Still "Hope" for an OHL Championship
Kyle Hope - Photo from Facebook
When Seth Griffith and Dane Fox were knocked out of the OHL playoffs with the London Knights, the majority of Chatham-Kent’s OHL contingent lost their chance at an OHL championship. There is still “Hope” for an OHL title with a Chatham-Kent connection however as Blenheim’s Kyle Hope and his Oshawa Generals are in the midst of a second round series with the Niagara IceDogs.
In 8 playoff games thus far, Hope has registered a single assist and 2 penalty minutes. Hope’s Oshawa Generals eliminated the Kingston Frontenacs 4 games to 1 in the first round of the OHL playoffs.
Now, in round two of the playoffs, Oshawa is trailing 2-1 to the Niagara IceDogs. After losing game one 2-1, Hope and the Generals bounced back to tie the series with a 6-4 win this past weekend. Monday however, the Generals found themselves in a 4-0 hole early in game three, which they were unable to climb out of losing 5-3.
“We have taken great strides forward throughout the whole season and it’s been a great season,” said Hope in an interview with CKSN. “All of the guys have come together this year and it’s been an amazing experience and hoping to keep it going far into the playoffs.”
In the regular season, the Niagara IceDogs finished second in the Central Division and second overall in the Eastern Conference with 96 points, while the Oshawa Generals were second in the East Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference with 88 points.
After changing from defense to forward midseason, Hope feels he is adjusting well and has found success this season with the Generals, “I think my season this year has been a succesful season as a individual and a team. For myself, going from defence to forward at Christmas time has been an adjustment and has worked out well.”
Still after a strong season, Hope has bigger goals in mind. Ultimately he dreams of playing professional hockey, but for now, his focus is on winning an OHL championship with the Oshawa Generals, “The Generals in my opinion are not far off, or are right there for acheiving an OHL title. We are a very skilled team with grit to go along with it. We have a great head coach in Chris Dipeiro and assistant coaches in Roger Hunt and Joe Cirella. We have become much like a family this season and have continued to get better and it is exciting to see what we will be able to accomplish.”
Game four of the best of seven series now return to Oshawa Wednesday, April 13 and then to St. Catherines Friday, April 15 for game five.