Joel Vanderlaan
@joelvanderlaan
For the second straight year and sixth time in franchise history, the London Knights are OHL champions.
The Knights won the J. Ross Robertson Cup with a 5–2 win over the Oshawa Generals on Thursday night at Canada Life Centre.
Kasper Halttunen was awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL Playoff MVP, becoming the first import player in league history to earn the honour.
The Finnish forward had 15 goals and 21 points in 17 postseason games, including scoring eight times in the final three contests of the championship series.
Oshawa defenceman Andrew Gibson opened the scoring at the 6:57 mark of the first period with his fourth goal of the series.
But with just 21 seconds left in the frame, Halttunen tied the game heading into intermission, finishing a feed from fellow San Jose Sharks prospect Sam Dickinson.
In the second period, Sam O'Reilly gave London its first lead of the night, with a redirection. Moments later, Halttunen scored again, putting home a long rebound to double the Knights’ lead.
Beckett Sennecke answered for the Generals with 25 seconds left in the middle stanza.
The Knights wouldn’t let Oshawa back in it. In the final frame, Landon Sim restored the two-goal lead with under five minutes to go in the third, and Easton Cowan sealed it with an empty-netter.
London went 16–1–0 in the playoffs, their only loss coming in Game 1 of the Finals.
Knights Captain Denver Barkey returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.
With the win, the Knights will now represent the OHL at the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec.
