By: OHA Media
Photo: Robyn Iwaskiw

The 2018 ACH Championship Series starts on Saturday, March 17 at 7:15 PM in Stoney Creek as the Stoney Creek Generals and Whitby Dunlops battle for the 2018 Robertson Cup and a trip to Rosetown, Saskatchewan to play for the Allan Cup.

This is a rematch of last year’s Robertson Cup Championship when the Stoney Creek Generals took down the Dunlops in five games to win their second straight title. 

The Stoney Creek Generals are the two-time defending Allan Cup Hockey Champions and finished the 2017-18 regular season as the top team in the ACH with a record of 15-7-2. The Whitby Dunlops, who finished second in the regular season at 14-9-0, are looking to unseat Stoney Creek as Champions and make the trip to Saskatchewan for the Allan Cup.

Stoney Creek Generals
Once again the Generals were the top scoring team in the ACH regular season, amassing 144 goals in 24 games, averaging 6 goals per game. They also led the league in shots per game at over 50 shots per game, when they’re rolling, this is an offensive juggernaut. Cam Fergus tied for the league scoring title with Dundas’ Phil Brewer with 43 points in 19 games. Fergus was joined in the top five by Matt Dzieduszycki who had 35 points in 19 games. The Generals also receive offensive contributions from the blue line as Matthew Bragg and Martin Lee tied with Whitby’s Matt Baxter for the most points for defensemen with 21, while team captain Sean Blanchard was just one point back, giving the team 3 defensemen with 20 or more points. To prove how deep this team is offensively, Fergus was seventh in team scoring in their sweep of the Dundas Real McCoys in the semifinals with 4 points as Rob Hisey led the way with 10 points in four games. 

On the defensive side of the puck, the Generals gave up the second fewest goals in the regular season, 118 in 24 games for a 4.92 goals against average as a team. The Whitby Dunlops gave up the fewest, 111 in 23 games for a 4.83 average. The Generals have relied heavily on goaltender Dave Brown this year as the veteran netminder played in 18 of the team’s 24 games, winning 11. Brown played in all four games in their semifinal series against Dundas and was 4-0 with a 3.00 GAA and .912 SV% to lead the Generals to victory. The backups are Dalton McGrath and Matthew Sagrott with McGrath picking up most of the work after coming over from Hamilton, winning 4 games in 7 appearances.

The Generals were 11-2-1 at home during the regular season and playoffs and 8-5-1 away from the Gateway Ice Centre. 

Whitby Dunlops
The Dunlops stumbled late in the regular season, losing their final five games, but have righted their ship so far in the playoffs after beating out the Hamilton Steelhawks in five games. Whitby scored the second most goals per game in the regular season, averaging 5.30 goals per game without a player in the top 10 in scoring. Kyle Ventura led the team with 27 points in 21 games and seven other players broke the 20 point barrier which shows the depth of scoring they have up and down their lineup. Blueliner Matt Baxter tied for the league lead with 21 points and along with Chris Gour with 15 points lead the offensive charge from the backend. It was Tyler Melancon who led the Dunlops with 12 points in five games in their semifinal series win over Hamilton as the Dunlops had 12 different goal scorers in the five game series. 

Whitby finished the season with the best goals against average in the league at 4.83 goals against per game as goaltender Mathieu Cadieux led the league with a 4.32 GAA and was second in SV% at .892. Cadieux was exceptionally strong in the first half of the season and gives the Dunnies a shot at winning most nights. The backup is veteran Jason Guy who was the number one goalie last year and is very capable of stepping in when needed. Cadieux played in all five games against Hamilton in the semis and was 4-1 with a 4.40 GAA and .879 SV% against a tough Steelhawks team.

The Dunlops always play well on home ice at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre where they were 11-4-0 this year during the regular season and playoffs. Away from home ice the Dunlops were 7-6-0 in the regular season and playoffs combined.

(1) Stoney Creek Generals (15-7-2) vs (2) Whitby Dunlops (14-9-0)
Stoney Creek won the season series 4-1-1
     11/11/17    Stoney Creek 1 at Whitby 6     
     11/25/17    Whitby 4 at Stoney Creek 5     
     12/30/17    Stoney Creek 8 at Whitby 6     
     01/06/18    Whitby 6 at Stoney Creek 5 OT  
     02/19/18    Whitby 1 at Stoney Creek 10    
     02/24/18    Stoney Creek 6 at Whitby 4

Leading Scorers (head-to-head)
Stoney Creek: Cam Fergus 17 PTS (7G, 10A) - 6 GP
Whitby: Kyle Ventura 9 PTS (3G, 6A) - 6 GP

Leading Scorers (regular season)
Stoney Creek: Cam Fergus 43 PTS (17G, 26A) - 19 GP
Whitby: Kyle Ventura 27 PTS (17G, 10A) - 21 GP

Top Goaltender (head-to-head)
Stoney Creek: Dave Brown (4 GP, 3-0-1, 4.23 GAA, .901 SV%)
Whitby: Mathieu Cadieux (6 GP, 2-4-0, 5.32 GAA, .888 SV%)

Top Goaltender (regular season)
Stoney Creek: Dave Brown (18 GP, 11-4-1, 5.18 GAA, .872 SV%)
Whitby: Mathieu Cadieux (16 GP, 9-6-0, 4.32 GAA, .892 SV%)

Special Teams (head-to-head)
Stoney Creek: PP - 31.8%, PK - 78.6%
Whitby: PP - 21.4%, PK - 68.2%

Special Teams (regular season)
Stoney Creek: PP - 20.3%, PK - 77.3%
Whitby: PP - 22.6%, PK - 77.9%

HOW THEY GOT HERE
Semifinals:
Stoney Creek: beat Dundas 4 games to 0
Whitby: beat Hamilton 4 games to 1

Click here to download the complete head-to-head comparison (PDF)
Stoney Creek stats (Regular Season | Playoffs)
Whitby stats (Regular Season | Playoffs)

Click here to view the 2018 ACH Playoffs Brackets

2018 ACH ROBERTSON CUP CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES SCHEDULE:
Game 1: Sat. Mar. 17 at 7:15 PM – Whitby at Stoney Creek
Game 2: Wed. Mar. 21 at 8:00 PM – Stoney Creek at Whitby
Game 3: Fri. Mar. 23 at 8:15 PM – Whitby at Stoney Creek
Game 4: Sat. Mar. 24 at 6:30 PM – Stoney Creek at Whitby
*Game 5: Fri. Mar. 30 at 2:15 PM – Whitby at Stoney Creek
*Game 6: Sat. Mar. 31 at 6:30 PM – Stoney Creek at Whitby
*Game 7: Mon. Apr. 2 at 8:30 PM – Whitby at Stoney Creek
(* if necessary)

Note: all games in Stoney Creek are played at the Gateway Ice Centre and all games in Whitby are played at Iroquois Park Sports Centre.

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