Knight Watch: Emotional return for Knights post-break

The Knights return with heavy hearts for the second half of the season after the tragic passing of teammate Abakar Kazbekov. The hope is that hockey helps with the healing.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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It will be an emotional return to the ice for the London Knights Wednesday night when they resume their post-holiday schedule less than two weeks after tragedy led to the postponement of their final game before the break.

Hockey — and everything else — took a backseat when it was learned the morning of Saturday, Dec. 17 that London Knight Abakar Kazbekov had died tragically at just 18 years of age. The death was reportedly the result of a fall from a downtown condo building.

London Police, who announced they were investigating the incident, have not yet made public the cause of the fall, although they have said that foul play is not suspected.

The London Knights — and the larger sporting community — was immediately sent into mourning upon learning the news. The following day’s game was, of course, postponed due to the tragic circumstances — as were three other OHL games around the league.

Abakar Kazbekov will be remembered Wednesday night with a special ceremony. The 18-year-old tragically passed away Dec. 17. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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Knights players were immediately provided with grief support and counseling services as they began to process the death of Kazbekov, who joined the Knights in 2021 after being selected first overall in the U18 draft. A significant shoulder injury had limited the forward to 21 games over two seasons (12 this year). Well-liked and a good teammate, he’s also being remembered for his work ethic.

Last Thursday, a majority of Kazbekov’s teammates attended his funeral at a mosque in Mississauga. A GoFundMe campaign had been set up to help cover funeral costs and to support the family through tragedy. It has raised more than $37,000. Financial matters aside, the family of the 18-year-old Russian import player released a statement thanking people for their outpouring of support.

Prior to Wednesday’s game, the Knights will hold a special ceremony to honour the life of Abakar Kazbekov. A moment of silence will be observed and the team will celebrate his life and time with the Knights with a video tribute. Kazbekov’s #15 has been painted in-ice behind the nets at Budweiser Gardens, and London players will have a #15 patch on their sweaters.

Wednesday’s emotional return to hockey will no doubt be a difficult one for the entire Knights organization — and its fans. The remainder of the season, quite frankly, will be played with a heavy heart. But it’s on the ice where Kazbekov’s teammates are likely to experience some healing, bit by bit, after losing their teammate. Playing a game they love. Honouring a teammate and friend.

After Wednesday, Knights players will certainly find themselves keeping busy with a pair of games on the weekend. More specifically, they’ll face the Sarnia Sting in the return of the annual pre-New Years home-and-home series. That’s a tradition that was halted by COVID-related cancellations the past two seasons.

Saturday’s matchup in Sarnia will be the first meeting between the 402 rivals this season. Last year, the Sting took six of the 10 meetings between the two teams — and Sarnia could be a handful for the Knights again this season.

With Kitchener and Sarnia both making big additions prior to the holiday break, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the Western Conference reacts. Both Guelph and the Soo are likely to add themselves to the list of sellers, and Windsor, Owen Sound and perhaps Saginaw may look to bolster their respective rosters.

The Knights are first in the Midwest Division — and just a point behind the conference leaders, so they really should be considered among the contenders despite having a fairly young team. It will be interesting to see how the trades shake out over the next couple weeks — and what involvement the Knights will have at the deadline. I imagine they are fielding calls on both Brett Brochu and Logan Mailloux. But if they’re looking to compete this year, they’ll likely hold on to one or both players.

The league is fairly wide open this year, and London has shown that it can compete with the top teams. Early in the year the Knights were looking like a team in rebuild mode. But that rebuild may have been fast-tracked a bit — they won 15 of 17 before Christmas, not exactly common for a team in rebuild mode.

The Knights are in a good position to make some modest acquisitions to round out their roster while not compromising their promising future by parting ways with some of their top up-and-comers.

Looking at some highlights from the first half, co-captains Sean McGurn and George Diaco led the way offensively with 37 and 34 points, respectively, while Logan Mailloux's 10 goals place him third among OHL defensemen.

Oliver Bonk has also established himself as a solid prospect ahead of this summer’s NHL draft. He leads London's blueline with 22 points and has the second-most points among OHL rookies, behind only Michael Misa.

Brett Brochu looked uncommonly human to start the season, but he’s returned to form in a big way and is a major reason for London’s turnaround. Brochu is third in the OHL in wins, third in goals-against average, and fifth in save percentage. Backup Zach Bowen, meanwhile, has been impressive in his own right when he’s been called upon, and the rookie netminder has won each of his last five starts.

No Knights are on Canada’s World Junior roster, but rookie Ryan Del Monte cracked Germany’s squad and is competing at the Championships. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Wednesday (Dec. 28, 7:00pm) vs. Erie Otters (11-15-0-3, 5th in Midwest)

The Otters are in rebuild mode after parting ways with one of their top players before the break, trading Christian Kyrou to the Sarnia Sting. The Otters do have a pair of wins over London in three meetings so far this season. Brett Bressette leads the team in scoring with 36 points, while three of Spencer Sova’s 14 goals this season have come against London.

Saturday (on road, Dec. 31, 7:05pm) & Sunday (at home, Jan. 1, 4:00pm) vs. Sarnia Sting (16-10-4-2, 3rd in West)

The Sting have a very high-powered offence that only got better with the addition of one of the top offensive defensemen in the OHL, Christian Kyrou. Sarnia has three players in the top 10 in league scoring, and that doesn’t include Nolan Burke who has 19 goals in 23 games. Despite all the firepower, Sarnia’s powerplay is actually at the bottom of the league at 18.1%. Expect that to change with the addition of Kyrou and Sasha Pastujov. The Sting will be without their star goalie, Benjamin Gaudreau, this weekend, as he’s with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. Two of Sarnia's top scorers might be playing with an added chip on their shoulder, as Pastujov and Ty Voit were left off of USA’s World Junior roster.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

Michael Simpson had an impressive first half for the Peterborough Petes, leading the OHL in save percentage (.914) and posting the second-best goals-against average (2.70). 

Hunter Haight had a slow start in Barrie but caught fire following a trade to Saginaw. In seven games with the Spirit, the Strathroy product has four goals and 13 points.

Brett Harrison was on an absolute tear to finish the first half with the Oshawa Generals. He has seven goals and 15 points during his current eight-game point streak.

Bryce McConnell-Barker is leading by example in Sault Ste. Marie. The Greyhounds captain leads the team in scoring with 16 goals and 34 points.

Brady Stonehouse has carved out a key role with the league-leading Ottawa 67’s with a team-high 17 goals in the first half.

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

1 - There is one London Knight competing at the World Juniors this year, as forward Ryan Del Monte skates with Germany.

316 - Sean McGurn has been the Knights’ go-to man on faceoffs, winning 316 draws in the first half, good for a 57.1 per cent rate. He has 553 draws this season, almost 200 more than the next Knight.

86 - Logan Mailloux leads London with 86 shots on goal, averaging 3.7 shots per game. His season high was 12 against North Bay on Oct. 28.

87 - London has allowed the second fewest goals in the OHL. Only Ottawa has allowed fewer (83). It makes sense, then, that the two teams played 65 minutes of shutout hockey in London's 1-0 shootout victory over Ottawa in early December.

5 - Max McCue returned to the Knights lineup after missing seven games with an injury, and he had five assists in the final two games before Christmas.

3 - Landon Sim snapped a nine-game goalless drought by scoring three goals in two games just prior to the holiday break.

AROUND THE OHL

Just before the break, Kitchener added some offence from Kingston, acquiring Dallas Stars prospect Francesco Arcuri from the Fronts. Arcuri leads the league with 24 goals and scored in his Kitchener debut.

18 OHLers are competing at the World Junior Championships, including six who are suiting up for Canada.

The Ottawa 67’s were the OHL’s top team in the first half with 24 wins and 49 points, although North Bay has started to close in and are now just four points back.