Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Storm’s Nichols is OHL Player of Week

Press Release

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that goaltender Justin Nichols of the Guelph Storm is the OHL Player of the Week for the week ending January 19 after posting a 3-0-0-0 record with a shutout victory along with a goals-against-average of 0.67 and save percentage of .978.

Nichols made 90 saves in three starts last week preserving the club’s six-game winning-streak moving the Storm into first place in the OHL standings with a 35-8-2-1 record.  Nichols becomes the fourth Storm player and fifth OHL goaltender to claim the award this season in a week highlighted by a shutout performance in a battle between the OHL’s top two teams on Saturday night in Erie.  The Storm became the first team to beat the Otters on home ice with Nichols stopping all 25 shots he faced to earn third star honours with his third shutout of the season in the 1-0 decision.  His week also included a 28-save performance on Friday night as part of a 4-1 victory over the Kitchener Rangers, ending Sunday with a 37-save performance as first star of a 6-1 win over the Kingston Frontenacs.

Nichols, an 18-year-old from St. Catharines, ON, is playing in his second OHL season and first with the Storm.  He is currently tied for first in the OHL with 25 wins carrying an overall record of 25-4-1-0 while holding the league’s third best save percentage with a mark of .924, and ranks sixth in goals-against-average with a mark of 2.70.

Honourable mention for the award this week goes to a pair of Peterborough Petes forwards Hunter Garlent and Eric Cornel who led the league collecting nine and seven points respectively with Garlent scoring four goals and five assists in three games to Cornel’s four goals and three assists in three games.  Detroit Red Wings prospect Andreas Athanasiou of the Barrie Colts was also considered after scoring five goals and one assist for six points in two games.


 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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