London Knights Claim Hamilton Spectator Trophy as OHL Regular Season Champions
March 24, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL) News Release
The London Knights are 2024 OHL Regular Season Champions, skating to a 3-0 win over the Guelph Storm on Sunday to solidify supremacy on the final day of the schedule.
The 50-14-1-3 Knights are Hamilton Spectator Trophy recipients for the seventh time in franchise history following previous titles in 2013, 2012, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004. London went on to win OHL championships in three of those seasons (2013, 2012, 2005) and hoisted the Memorial Cup in 2005.
Sunday's win featured a goal and an assist from Easton Cowan, who extended his franchise record-long point streak to 36 games, the third-longest run in Canadian Hockey League history since the year 2000. Overage netminder Michael Simpson stopped 19 shots to pull into a tie for the league lead with four shutouts on the season, giving him a total of 10 in his OHL career.
The Knights ended the season on a seven-game winning streak, reaching the 50-win plateau for the seventh time in franchise history. Their 32.6 percent power play led all OHL clubs, and is the highest recorded power play percentage the OHL has seen since special teams percentages were first recorded online in 1997-98. London's 29 shorthanded goals tie an OHL record set by the 1989-90 Niagara Falls Thunder.
The Knights were led in scoring by Philadelphia Flyers prospect Denver Barkey who finished with a total of 102 points (35-67- 102) in 64 games. He was joined by other 30+ goal scorers in Cowan, Ruslan Gazizov and Kasper Halttunen while Winnipeg Jets draftee Jacob Julien scored 29.
The Hamilton Spectator Trophy was first presented to the Ontario Hockey Association in the 1957-58 season. Winners have gone on to capture the OHL championship 25 times and the Memorial Cup 11 times. The 2022 Hamilton Bulldogs were the last team to win a J. Ross Robertson Cup title after finishing first during the regular season. The 2009 Windsor Spitfires were the last OHL team to complete the trifecta, emerging as Memorial Cup champions.
Entering the postseason off their fifth consecutive Midwest Division title, the Knights prepare to face the Flint Firebirds in the opening round of the OHL Playoffs, a series that begins Friday night at Budweiser Gardens in London.
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