TRIO OF WHALERS SHINE ON INTERNATIONAL STAGE IN WINDSOR

Seguin, Hackett, and Brittain play for the OHL All-Stars in Canada/Russia Subway Super Series

The Canadian Hockey League continued its dominance over the Russian All-Stars in the 2009 Subway Super Series on Monday in the Ontario Hockey League All-Stars’ 5-2 victory before 6,353 at the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre.

The Canadian Hockey League – with two wins from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and now a pair from the Ontario Hockey League All-Stars – will switch to the Western Hockey League for the final two games of the series.

Matt Hackett played the entire game in net for the OHL All-Stars and stopped 28 out of 30 shots from the Russians. Photo by Aaron Bell - OHL Images.

Plymouth goaltender Matt Hackett backstopped the OHL’s win on Monday, stopping 28-of-30 Russian shots. Windsor’s Adam Henrique and Taylor Hall, along with Tyler Toffoli (Ottawa), Nazem Kadri (London) and Zack Kassian (Peterborough) scored single goals for the OHL All-Stars.

With the OHL leading 4-0 late in the third period, Russia ruined Hackett’s shutout bid with goals by Kirill Petrov and Maxim Kitsyn.

The Whalers were also represented by Tyler Seguin and Josh Brittain. Both players saw regular duty in the game as head coach Dave Cameron used everyone on the team.

The OHL team was stocked with talent with 16 National Hockey League draft picks and six others too young to be drafted. By contrast, the Russians had just three NHL picks – Petrov (New York Islanders), plus and a couple of players who were scratches in Monday’s game – goaltender Igor Bobkov (Anaheim) and Dmitri Kugreyshev (Washington).

“I was real happy with the game,” said OHL assistant coach Bob Boughner of Windsor. “Bottom line, our guys played hard. There’s a lot of the line for them and I think they played the right way.”

Indeed, the hitting and shot blocking – especially from the OHL side – was a notable contrast from most All-Star games at any level. The OHL enjoyed a sizeable territorial advantage most of the evening and received sustained offense by winning one-on-one battles for pucks and keeping the play alive in the offensive zone.

As the winning goaltender, Hackett was able to enjoy the work of the team in front of him.

“It was great,” he said. “We had a great “D” in front of me – I’d make a save and they would clear the puck right away. It’s fun to play with these guys. They make my job pretty easy. It’s unbelievable. 

“It’s a lot of fun to watch when you’ve got Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin and a bunch of good guys, too many to mention. They’re just unbelievable players.”

The pro-Windsor crowd had plenty to cheer about with Spitfires Ryan Ellis, Greg Nemisz, Hall and Henrique all playing leading roles in the victory. Henrique scored in the first period (8:39), Toffoli (7:57) and Hall in the second (15:56) and Kadri (5:35) and Kassian (18:31) in the third.

But the crowd also saved cheers for one-time Spitfire Hackett and for Seguin.

“Yeah, it was cool,” Hackett agreed. “They were cheering for me here and it’s kind of weird.”

(Above) Tyler Seguin controls the puck during the game. (Below) Seguin tips a shot in on Russian goaltender Alexander Zalivin. Photos by Aaron Bell - OHL Images.

“I thought the crowd was great,” Boughner said. “Even the coaches behind the bench were saying how involved they were, how vocal they were in showing their appreciation when there was a big hit or a nice goal. I think the fans got their money’s worth."

If the Plymouth players were tired in playing their fourth game in four nights, they didn’t show it. Cameron reunited Seguin with Toffoli and Sudbury right wing John McFarland in the game. The line dominated the 2009 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Tournament in leading Canada to the gold medal in August.

“The legs were a little rusty at the start of the game,” Seguin said. “Once I got going, I felt a little better.”

Although the upcoming World Junior Championship in considered a 19-year-olds tournament, Seguin is in the process of doing all he can to show Hockey Canada he deserves a shot at making Team Canada.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve dreamed about playing in the NHL and making the World Junior Team and representing your country,” Seguin said. “I’m going to work my hardest to try to make it happen.”

While Seguin is a top NHL prospect, it took Hackett a little while to get to where he is now, but like Seguin, Hackett wants to make Team Canada.

“I keep it in the back of my mind, obviously,” Hackett said. “But I’m trying to impress them by doing my best and hopefully get an invite to their camp.”

Monday’s performance didn’t hurt Hackett’s chances.

The Subway Super Series wraps up in British Columbia this week with games in Victoria on Wednesday and Kelowna on Thursday.