2023 Orientation Camp: Day 1 Scrimmage scoring recap
Oshawa, Ont., – The 2023 Oshawa Generals Orientation Camp got underway on Saturday afternoon with two on-ice sessions, skills training, and a Red vs. White Scrimmage. Amongst the camp participants are the 2022 and 2023 draft classes, including 1st round selections from 2022, Beckett Sennecke and Ben Danford, as well as 2023 first-round pick Owen Griffin.
The scrimmage, underway at 6:15 at the Tribute Communities Centre, saw 2022 U8 2nd rounder Hayden Sabourin get the start for team Red and 2023 OHL priority 27th overall pick Isaac Gravelle in net for team White. Saturday night’s scrimmage included two 45-minute periods, with 5-on-5 play and odd-man opportunities to test power play and penalty-killing prowess.
PERIOD 1
Team White opened the scoring with a nice clean-up move by number 12 Connor Chartrand. Chartrand is one of six free agent invites to this weekend’s camp. Team Red would respond just a few minutes later after a juicy rebound landed on the stick of 2023’s 9th-round pick Vasily Serov. Serov scored 20 goals in 51 games with the Vaughan Kings during the 2022-2023 season.
Owen Griffin wasted no time proving to the Generals’ brass he was worth the sixth overall selection. In all alone, the former York-Simcoe Express dangled Gravelle clean for a wide-open cage to score his first of the weekend. Griffin is coming off his official commitment to the Generals just a week ago.
In lieu of a power play, returnee David Bedkowski was awarded a penalty shot but was shut down by Sabourin in the team Red net. Sabourin continued to stand tall, stopping Gavin McGahey-Smith on a strong net drive.
1st round selection in the 2023 U18 draft, Rocco Bigioni, got team White all square with a bar-down shot from the faceoff dot, beating Sabourin clean. Bigioni scored nine times with the Ajax-Pickering Raiders in the 2022-2023 season. Minutes later team White continued their scoring after Ed Downey pocketed a nice shot under the glove of Sabourin. Downey was selected in the 3rd round of the 2022 U18 selection and also spent his 2022-2023 season with the Ajax-Pickering Raiders.
Team White’s fourth goal came off the stick of a streaking Shawn Costello. He was elected in the 5th round of the 2023 Priority Selection from the Mississauga Senators of the GTHL. The Generals’ third-round pick in 2023, Tristan Delisle, got in on the team White score-fest, potting his own rebound on the rush. Delisle scored 27 goals in just 36 games with the Mississauga Rebels last season and is showing early on his fiery scoring touch. Free agent Chartrand added his second of the scrimmage to extend team White’s lead to 6-2. Team White’s onslaught continued, as shortly after his first, Delisle fooled Sabourin for his second of the evening, extending his team’s lead to 7-2.
Getting team Red back into the goal column was number 24, Ryan Hodkinson. Hodkinson was the Generals’ 12th selection in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection and spent last season with the Huron-Perth Lakers. He scored 18 goals and 18 assists in 38 games.
PERIOD 2
The second frame of Saturday’s scrimmage saw increased physicality, as both teams started to get more comfortable the bodies started to fly. Jonathan Pylypuik of team Red and Nicholas Wlodarczyk of team White even dropped the gloves after an exchange at centre ice – both are attending on free-agent invitations.
Joshua Cleary broke the ice in the second half, scoring his first of the scrimmage to bring team Red within three goals, trailing just 7-4. Cleary is a free agent invite from the Windsor Jr. Spitfires, scoring nine goals in 39 games last season.
Despite a 10-goal first 45 minutes, both teams combined for just one goal in the second half, leading to a final score of 7-4 for team White.
Both teams will hit the ice again tomorrow for the final scrimmage of the 2023 Orientation Camp, beginning at 1:30 on Sunday afternoon at the Tribute Communities Centre.
