Othmann's Two Points Leads To Firebirds Win

Starting the year off right!💥

Brennan Othmann (@BOthmann78) scores the first goal of the year for the @FlintFirebirds. It's Othmann's 21st goal this season🎥 pic.twitter.com/SAGUuVRLUv

— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) January 2, 2022

Maybe it was karma for Team Canada leaving Brennan Othmann off their World Under-20 team that the tournament was canceled due to Covid. But if one goes back to the last 13 games that Othmann has played for the Flint Firebirds and Othmann is 11-12-23 over that span after Saturday's game against the Saginaw Spirit.

Brennan Othmann (OHL Images)

Othmann was 1-1-2 as his Firebirds defeated their in-state rivals 5-2. Other than perhaps Connor Bedard of Regina (more on him later), it is hard to find a player playing better hockey than Othmann is. 

The goal from the above tweet was Othmann's 21st of the season which is tops on his team as well as third in the Ontario Hockey League. Toss in an assist on Flint's final goal and Othmann is 21-18-39 good for ninth in points in the OHL.

To me, the key is how close Othmann is in terms of "goals to assist" as ideally, you want your best players to have as close to the 50/50 ratio as Othmann. What it says is that not only is Othmann able to score but he can help create offense for his teammates.

Goalie Tayln Boyko had it pretty easy as his Kelowna Rockets dominated the Victoria Royals 5-2, blowing open a close game with three goals in the third period as they won their fifth straight. Stopping 19 out of 21 shots, Boyko has to be under serious consideration for WHL (and CHL) goalie of the week after his third win of the week. 

The Ranger's 2021 fourth-round pick Boyko is 3-0 with a 1.67 goals against and a 0.948 save percentage as he goes over the 500 mark for the first time since the start of the season. Boyko is 11-10-1-1 with a 3.28 goals against and a 0.908 save percentage. 

As a member of the Kelowna Rockets, Boyko is 10-4-0-1 with a 2.13 goals against and a 0.919 save percentage. Those numbers alone would have him among the WHL's best goalies. 

Goalie Dylan Garand returned to his Kamloops Blazers and had a pretty easy night thanks to his teammates spanking the Prince George Cougars 7-1. The game was pretty much over after the first period thanks to a four-goal outburst.

Garand only faced 16 shots with only a goal in the third period to mar his night. Garand is 17-4 with a 1.86 goals against, a 0.930 save percentage, and two shutouts as he is the WHL leader in wins and save percentage while second in goals against. 

If the WHL season was to end now he would be the clear-cut choice for WHL Western Conference Goalie of the year and a top contender for the WHL league winner.

Ryder Korczak and his Moose Jaw Warriors probably wish the World juniors had not been canceled. If they had continued then they would have faced the Regina Pats without Connor Bedard in their lineup.

Bedard's fourth goal of the game coming at 4:38 of overtime gave the Regina Pats a 7-6 win in a wild affair. Korczak had a bit of a rough night going scoreless on just two shots with a -1, a minor for tripping that ended a Moose Jaw power play, and was 8-12 on faceoffs.

Hank Kempf and his ninth-ranked Cornell "Big Red" returned from their holiday break and traveled to play Arizona State in non-conference action. Cornell lost 5-2 but the score is a bit misleading as ASU scored two empty-net goals in the game's final minute. 

Kempf was scoreless on one shot and a -1. The same two teams play later today. 

Did Not Play

Brody Lamb and his Green Bay Gamblers saw their game against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders declared a "no contest". The USHL in a statement that "Per league safety protocols, minimum standards were not met to play this game".

The USHL also said they are working with both teams to reschedule this game.