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Oshawa Generals win Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions
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## Oshawa Generals win Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference
Champions
Oshawa, Ont. - The Oshawa Generals had their hands full with the North
Bay Battalion in the Eastern Conference Championship Series, but
managed to avert disappointment with an impressive 6-1 victory in Game
7 on Monday night at the Tribute Communities Centre.
New York Rangers prospect Dylan Roobroeck had two goals and an assist
as the Generals halted the Battalion, who entered the seventh and
deciding game on the heels of three consecutive wins, looking to
overcome a 3-0 series deficit. Sunday's Game 6 outcome saw the
Battalion win by a score of 8-1.
"The kids were incredible tonight, starting with Jacob Oster," said
Generals head coach Derek Laxdal. "He set the tone right off the hop.
We got that first goal and I thought our guys did an incredible job of
checking and shutting down North Bay tonight.
"You gotta give the kids a lot of credit. They believed that they
could win Game 7 at home today. It was a tough game getting beat 8-1,
but for them to respond that way today, I'm very proud of them as a
coach. In all my years coaching that was one of the best efforts I've
seen in a Game 7 to shut down the other team."
Defenceman David Bedkowski opened the scoring with his first career
OHL playoff goal coming with 5:53 remaining in the first period.
Rasmus Kumpulainen and Connor Lockhart scored in the second to give
Oshawa a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Roobroeck scored his first of two 2:08 into the third before North
Bay's Jacob LeBlanc spoiled Oster's shutout bid just under four
minutes later. Roobroeck scored his 10th of the postseason before
Ethan Toms hit the empty net in the game's final minute to seal the
6-1 final.
The Generals win their first Bobby Orr Trophy since 2015, their second
since the trophy was first awarded in 1999. They advance to the OHL
Championship Series following series victories over the Barrie Colts,
Ottawa 67's and North Bay Battalion.
The Troops see their playoff run come to an end after they eliminated
Kingston and Sudbury to reach their third consecutive East Final. It
marks the second straight year they've fallen in Game 7.
"The entire playoff run with this team, I'm just so impressed with our
guys," said Battalion head coach Ryan Oulahen. "I'm proud of our team
and our players. We came up a little bit short once again but we're
going to talk about this team for decades - the way we've been able to
change the culture and make North Bay a destination for people to want
to come and play for the Battalion."
The Battalion played to a regular season mark of 39-20-7-2, winning a
third straight Central Division title. Overage players in captain Liam
Arnsby, Paul Christopoulos and Justin Ertel skated in their final OHL
contest.
The Oshawa Generals advance to the 2024 OHL Championship Series as
they face the London Knights in an encounter that begins on Thursday
night in London. The series will be broadcast in its entirety on TSN,
the official broadcast partner of the Canadian Hockey League.
Generals captain Stuart Rolofs was presented with the Bobby Orr Trophy
by OHL Vice President Cole Butterworth. The Generals won a previous
Eastern Conference title in 2015 en route to their 13th OHL
championship, the most by any of the league's 20 teams.
All-time Generals great Eric Lindros was on-hand to conduct the
ceremonial faceoff prior to a Game 7 played before a crowd of 5,694 at
the Tribute Communities Centre.
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