Simpson back where it began
Acquired by the London Knights this week, goaltender Michael Simpson is hoping to repeat his championship magic from a year ago — but this time with his hometown team.
Michael Simpson, a London native, beat his hometown Knights in last year’s OHL Finals as a member of the Peterborough Petes. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).
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They called it.
During the offseason in 2022, Michael Simpson, a London native, trained with several Knights players back home – Easton Cowan, Brody Crane, Ruslan Gazizov and Landon Sim, to name a few. After hard-fought scrimmages – and bonding on the ice – the Peterborough Petes goalie and his Knights friends engaged in some friendly sniping.
‘We’ll see you in the (OHL) Finals,’ they’d say. It became an ongoing theme. Imagine the two squads being the last ones remaining in the 20-team Ontario Hockey League at the end of a 68-game regular season and a grueling playoff run. The players, now friends, being reacquainted on the league’s biggest stage.
And then it happened.
Nine months later, it was the Peterborough Petes, from the East, and the London Knights, from the West, left standing to face each other in the OHL Finals.
“For it to come to fruition like that was pretty special. It was super exciting, but it was definitely a little weird,” said Simpson, who, as of Tuesday, is now himself a London Knight. “To play against that many people you know was strange. It kind of felt like you were back in minor hockey where half the guys go to the same school and then you’re playing against each other on the ice.
“It was different, but it was still a great time to play against a bunch of guys you battled with all summer.”
But it wasn’t just the players. Simpson was tasked with beating the team he’d cheered on for so many years. He was a longtime fan of the London Knights. In 2023, he was still a fan.
“Even during last season, if we didn’t have a game and London was playing, I would watch the London game,” he said. “So, it was definitely weird. It’s the team you grew up rooting for, now you’re somewhere else playing against them.”
And though it was his third year in the league, Simpson’s Game 1 appearance in London marked just his second OHL start at Budweiser Gardens (the first had happened in December).
“That was pretty cool. It was super special to be at a place where I went to so many playoff games growing up as a kid,” Simpson said. “And then to be right in the thick of it was pretty cool – and a little surreal at the same time. For me, it was really about trying to cancel out all the noise and just stick to the task at hand.”
And that’s exactly what he did. Simpson got the last laugh last spring against his friendly foes, as the Petes, capping off a wild playoff run filled with upsets, beat the Knights four games to two in the best-of-seven OHL Final.
Simpson was named MVP of the playoffs.
The clincher was a 2-1 Peterborough win at home in Game 6.
“You talk about it at the beginning of the season, you want to win an OHL championship. But for it to come to life in that moment, it was super exciting. I just remember throwing my gloves and stick high in the air and seeing all the guys flood off the bench and bulldoze me to start the celebration.
“It’s something I’ll never forget.”
(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).
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Simpson’s success last year – which culminated with him hoisting the OHL championship trophy and the Wayne Gretzky ‘99’ Award as 2023 Playoff MVP – was months in the making. Perhaps a full calendar year.
A product of the London minor hockey system, Simpson began his youth years with the West London Hawks in house league and minor novice before joining the Jr. Knights organization for several years, playing for six or seven different coaches (“They were all great,” Simpson says. “I have nothing but good things to say about all the coaches I had growing up.”).
As a 16-year-old, he was drafted by the Petes in the 10th round (193rd overall) in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection.
In his first year with Peterborough, he didn’t see the ice. The third stringer, he spent the season with an U18 team. And then the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season – and the next.
But Simpson made an important connection during COVID. Perusing Instagram one day, he came across Matt Smith Goaltending, a goalie training facility in Cambridge. He noticed some of the names Smith has worked with, including Hunter Jones, a former Pete himself and Minnesota Wild draftee.
“I think being a young kid drafted to Peterborough and seeing where Hunter Jones trains, it kind of opened my eyes a bit to the option,” said Simpson. “I threw (Matt) an email and said I was looking to hopefully get on the ice and try to get ready to go in case something happened during COVID.
“He has a program that you’ve really gotta commit to and stick to the process. It turned out I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I think Matt’s helped me out so much with my game.”
When play returned in 2021-22, Simpson had moved up the depth chart and then became the starter. In 45 games, he went 20-18-3-1 with a 3.56 goals-against average (GAA) and an .891 save percentage.
There was room for improvement – and Simpson was hungry to take his game to the next level. Cue his offseason summer training in 2022. He drove to Cambridge twice a week to work with Smith.
He also skated with his Knights buddies at Western Fair Arena, worked out with them (and Trevor Williamson, London’s strength and conditioning coach) in the gym at Total Package Hockey (TPH), and gave his own goaltending lessons at The Hockey Studio, run by Chris Billingsley – alongside Brett Brochu, another Knight he’d befriended during COVID.
“I thought I had a really good summer in the gym to prepare my body to hopefully go on a super long run, which luckily enough we were able to do. I think my off-ice habits – getting into good shape and being able to stay healthy as long as I could – were huge in my having a good season.
“And I worked really hard with Matt to make big strides in my game … getting more efficient, being able to make more saves, and working on staying calm and being able to know that in high-stress situations I can make these saves. I think the preparation was major in how I played.”
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And how did he play? During a strong regular season, Simpson posted a 2.73 GAA, good for third-best in the OHL – even slightly ahead of Brochu’s 2.82. His save percentage of .914 was second best, and his five shutouts were tied for tops in the league. He was named Goaltender of the Month for October and Goaltender of the Week three times throughout the year. And he was a workhorse, starting in a league-high 51 games.
But, it turned out, the marathon would continue deep into May. Simpson started all 23 of Peterborough’s playoff games, during which they went 16-7 overall. The Petes opened with a sweep of Sudbury in a 4 vs. 5 matchup (Peterborough having finished fourth in the Eastern Conference). And then things got interesting.
Simpson and the Petes upset the Ottawa 67’s, the top-ranked team in the league, in six games. And then they upset the North Bay Battalion, the No. 2 team overall, in a thrilling seven-game series.
What did they have left in the tank? It turned out, enough to upset the Knights, the No. 2 seed in the West, in six games to capture their first OHL title since 2006.
“It was such a crazy playoff run, beating three of the top five teams in the league to win it,” Simpson said. “The only word I can really come up with to describe it is surreal.
“Everybody says the mental side of the game is so important, and I completely believe that. It was a grind. And in those times where you’re physically and mentally exhausted, if you can push through that, you can take some huge strides in your game.”
The only thing he’d change about the Final against London? That Brett Brochu was in the other net. Unfortunately, Brochu had gone down with injury prior to the series and was replaced by Zach Bowen (the goalie the Petes acquired in exchange for Simpson Tuesday) and Owen Willmore.
“It was really too bad he got injured because I think it would have been pretty fun to have that battle in the finals,” Simpson said. “He’s a great guy, and I can’t say enough good things about him. Brett deserves the world. He’s one of the most hardworking guys I’ve ever met in my life.”
Now, Simpson will hold down the fort which Brochu has vacated after several fantastic seasons with the London Knights. Bringing Simpson home to London in his overage season will surely give the Knights a boost in net as they look to go one step further and win their own OHL championship this year.
And now, after a storybook season as a Pete last year, Simpson has the opportunity for a storybook finish to his junior hockey career by winning it all again – this time with his hometown team. Those friendly foes are now teammates, and they’re now all skating in the same direction – a goal of reaching the Memorial Cup next spring.
The OHL Finals features London and Oshawa. It’s the West champion versus the East winner — with a trip to the Memorial Cup on the line. What’s in store? Our hockey columnist, Jake Jeffrey, breaks it down …