You would maybe be surprised to hear a GM of a 3rd place team call the season "consistently inconsistent."
But Mount Forest Patriots GM Rob Nixon says despite a very up and down year where his team couldn't put together long consistent runs of dominant play, he's extremely confident that this could be a championship group. The Patriots have a wealth of talent at every position, including the league MVP in the crease, and have all the tools to make a very deep run.
Up front, the Patriots have as deep a group offensively as anyone in the Pollock Division. Michael Stefanelli led the team with 30 points, but the Patriots had a number of players only play roughly half the year and crank out point-per-game efforts. Blair Butchart returned from Junior B Elmira to put up 19 points in 16 games, Troy Oakley managed 15 in 13 games, and Riley Cribbin put up 12 in 12. When you factor in 28 points from Brendon Aitken, and the fact that Mount Forest had 11 double-digit point earners, this is a scary group who can run teams over with their offensive ability.
On D, it was more of the same from the heart-and-soul of the Pats D, Shawn Lantz. Whether it's 5-on-5, on the PP, or shutting teams down in his own end, Lantz is one of the most well-rounded D-men in the league. His 28 points from the blue-line was a huge boost to an already scary offense, and that should continue into the post-season. Backed by the solid defensive acumen of Kyle Hunter, Dylan Brown and Liam Francis, the Patriots have a core of defenders that can just as easily shut you down as they can provide quick outlet feeds to a high-powered forward core.
With all due respect to the rest of the lineup, the conversation with the Patriots starts and ends with league MVP, goalie Mathieu Oullette. It strains my memory to recall the last time a goaltender was the league MVP in the old Western Junior C loop, now the Pollock Division of the PJHL. That speaks to the level of play Oullette delivers to the Pats' crease. He was by far the goalie with the heaviest workload, and why not? In 27 appearances, equating to over 1,600 minutes, Oullette posted 15 wins, a staggering .925 save %, and a 2.65 GAA. Those are not numbers that are normally seen in Junior C hockey, and Oullette deserves full marks for bringing his game, and likely the Patriots record, to another level. Had the Patriots been able to play a bit more consistently, it isn't out of the realm of possibility that Oullette would have surpassed the 20 wins mark. He is the spine of his team, and the best at his craft in the loop, a goalie capable of stealing games, or series, by himself. He is capably backed up by Tyler Reiner, who made 8 appearances, earning 2 wins in the backup role.
For more on the Patriots upcoming playoff run, here is GM Rob Nixon:
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