OHL Player of the Week - Kerby Rychel

Toronto, ON - The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Kerby Rychel of the Robertson Cup champion Guelph Storm is the OHL Player of the Week for the playoff week ending May 11 after scoring three goals and five assists for eight points in three games with a plus-minus rating of plus-7.

Rychel helped the Storm win their third Robertson Cup in franchise history on Friday night in dramatic fashion scoring the game-tying goal at 15:31 of the third period before netting the game-winner at 19:33. He also recorded an assist on Matt Finn's late second period goal as the Storm defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-3 in Game 5 of the Rogers OHL Championship Series. Rychel also had a three-point performance in Game 4 of the series on Wednesday night with a goal and two assists as third star of the 10-1 victory, and picked up two assists in Game 3 last Tuesday as part of the 4-3 win. The Storm have earned a berth in the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup and open competition on Saturday May 17 against the Western Hockey League champion.

Rychel, a 19-year-old from Tecumseh, ON, earns the award for the second time in three weeks finishing the OHL Playoffs first in scoring with 32 points in 20 games scoring 11 goals with 21 assists. In his fourth OHL campaign, Rychel joined the Storm midway through the season and finished 2013-14 with 90 points in 58 games. Selected by the Blue Jackets in the first round, 19th overall, in the 2013 NHL Draft, Rychel signed an entry-level contract with Columbus earlier this season.

Also considered for the award this week was Playoff MVP and 2014 NHL Draft prospect Robby Fabbri who scored twice with five assists for seven points in the final three games of the Rogers OHL Championship Series earning the Wayne Gretzky '99' Award with 28 points in 16 games. Winnipeg Jets prospect Scott Kosmachuk also recorded seven points in three games with one goal and six assists finishing the post-season with 28 points in 20 games. In goal, the Storm's Justin Nichols won three straight games posting a goals-against-average of 2.34 and save percentage of .907.