Stouffville Spirit Head Coach TJ Hill addresses his players during practice at the Stouffville Arena. (Jim Mason photo)

There’s a logjam in the Ontario Junior Hockey League North-West Conference standings involving the three York Region squads in the 21-team league.

The Stouffville Spirit and Markham Royals have 37 points apiece and are tied for seventh place in the 10-team division. Markham has two games in hand.

The sixth-place Aurora Tigers have 41 points.

The top eight teams will make the playoffs, which will begin in early March. 

The Oakville Blades are in ninth place, nine points behind Stouffville and Markham, and still have a shot at catching them.

The Spirit picked up a point in Milton last night, losing 4-3 in overtime to the hometown Menace.

Jeremy Hirsh, Nathan Twohey and Peter Kioussis scored unanswered first-period goals to give the Spirit a 3-2 lead. Michael Di Santo had two assists

Matteo Gennaro was in goal for Stouffville,which was outshot 48-41.

“​​Overall, I am pleased with the development of our group,” said TJ Hill, who took over as head coach of the Spirit in late November. “Our young players are learning how to compete at this level and are growing every day. 

“We know we still have work to do but the players are working hard and come to the rink with the right attitude, ready to learn, and that is what is most important.”

THE SKED

The Spirit is in the midst of an eight-day break from games. They’ll practice three times this week before returning to action Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Burlington.

Next home game is Feb. 9 against Georgetown. 

Both are 7:30 p.m. starts.

NOTEBOOK

A pair of Spirit affiliate players took part in GTHL all-star games last week.

Garrett Nystrom played in the U18 tilt and Luca Romano scored two goals in the Top Prospects Game. 

Spirit This Week is sponsored by Farmer Jack’s in Stouffville and Sharon