Steelheads Eliminated After Lackluster Game Six

The Brampton Steelheads will return to the drawing board again after being eliminated in the first round of the OHL Playoffs for the third year in a row. 

The injured Steelheads went into game six without Dallas Stars prospect Angus MacDonell, Vancouver Cannucks prospect Vilmer Alriksson and 2025 draft-eligible goaltender Jack Ivankovic. To make matters worse, Lucas Karmiris left early in the game with an injury. 

While the missing personnel certainly put the Steelheads behind the eight ball, they put forward a decent effort in the first. They successfully killed off a double-minor penalty to Konnor Smith for high sticking partially in thanks to Mason Zebeski making a trio of fantastic blocks. They ended up outshooting the Generals 13-12 in the opening 20 minutes of the game. 

On the negative side, they failed to convert on three separate power plays and ended the period down 1-0 after Winnipeg Jets prospect Colby capitalized on a bad turnover by firing the puck past Brayden Gillespie.

What followed was an abysmal second period where Brampton failed to string passes together and continually turned pucks over. The Generals came out of the period with a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Luke Torrance and Owen Griffin, who continued his phenomenal start to the postseason. 

While the Steelheads pushed back in the third, resulting in Seattle Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf scoring his seventh goal of the playoffs. It was too little too late for Brampton as Owen Griffin potted his second goal of the game into an empty net, sealing the Generals' 4-1 win. 

Colts Push Past Niagara With Game Five WinLast night, the Barrie Colts punched their ticket to the second round of the OHL playoffs by defeating the Niagara IceDogs 6-3 on home ice.

At this point, serious questions need to be asked in Brampton. Three straight first-round exits are bad enough, but they loaded up their lineup for a deep run this year, acquiring a plethora of players, including Rehkopf, Spencer Sova and Konnor Smith. Failure to convert under these circumstances is a serious issue.

It's safe to say this team will be incredibly different next season. As overage players, Stevie Leskovar, Smith and Spencer Sova will all move forward with their hockey careers, being ineligible to return next season. They will only be able to bring back four of the 10 2005-born players on this year's roster.

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