Gearing up for a championship run

The anticipation is mounting as the Ontario Hockey League playoffs kick off this week.

Things officially open on Thursday night with a pair of series’ set to kick off. A pair of Eastern Conference matchups open as the Belleville Bulls are in Barrie to take on the Colts while the Ottawa 67’s host the Niagara IceDogs.

In the Western Conference, the lone series to get underway on Thursday is the second-seeded Erie Otters hosting the Sarnia Sting.

The Soo Greyhounds open the playoffs on Friday night at home as they host the Saginaw Spirit in game one of their opening-round playoff series.

Many eyes are on the Greyhounds as the playoffs begin, and why wouldn’t they be?

The team added at the trade deadline to bolster an already-solid lineup by acquiring Justin Bailey, Nick Ritchie, Connor Boland and Anthony DeAngelo.

Since the trade deadline in January, the Greyhounds won 25 of 28 games to end off the season, the best record in the league following the deadline.

The Greyhounds enter the series relatively healthy after going through a rash of injuries in the latter stages of the regular season. Forward Jean Dupuy was held out of the lineup on the last day of the regular season as a precaution but health isn’t expected to be an issue heading into the weekend.

Facing the OHL’s highest-scoring team, Spirit goaltenders Evan Cormier and David Ovsjannikov will be in tough to keep games close against a Greyhounds offense that produced an average of 5.02 goals per game.

The Spirit finished the season having given up the third-most goals in the league (271).

Spirit forward, and San Jose Sharks prospect, Dylan Sadowy will be expected to lead a young Spirit team offensively in the series.

Around the league, the Oshawa Generals are expected to make a push towards a league-title as they open the playoffs against the Peterborough Petes.

Similarly to the Greyhounds, the Generals loaded up prior to the deadline, adding Michael McCarron and Dakota Mermis from the London Knights and Brent Pedersen from the Kitchener Rangers.

Also in the Eastern Conference, the Barrie Colts face the Belleville Bulls in a two-vs.-seven matchup that could be the final action in the league for the Bulls as they prepare for a move to Hamilton next season. The underdog Bulls will be in tough defensively against a high-scoring Colts team.

The North Bay Battalion will face the Kingston Frontenacs with Sam Bennett in the opening round. The matchup features two of the stingiest teams defensively. Only four teams surrendered less than 200 goals in the regular season and two of them are in this series,

The other Eastern Conference series sees the Ottawa 67’s face the Niagara IceDogs. Considered prior to the season to be a title contender, the IceDogs got off to a slow start before returning to form and finishing the season strong.

The Erie Otters enter the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference and will face the Sarnia Sting in round one. Sting goaltenders Taylor Dupuis and Justin Fazio will be in tough against the high-scoring Otters offense.

Despite being the third seed in the Western Conference, the opening round will not be easy for the London Knights as they face the Kitchener rangers. One of the OHL’s highest scoring teams with 289 goals, the Knights also gave up 260.

In what could be the best series of the opening round, the Guelph Storm and Owen Sound Attack meet in the final Western Conference series. The Storm still have some integral pieces from the OHL championship team from last season while the Attack goaltending tandem of Michael McNiven and Jack Flinn have been solid all season.

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FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS

Western Conference

Soo Greyhounds (1) vs. Saginaw Spirit (8)
Regular Season record – Greyhounds: 54-12-0-2 (110 points); Spirit: 29-36-2-1 (61 points)
Goals for – Greyhounds: 342; Spirit: 212
Goals against – Greyhounds: 196; Spirit: 271
Season series: Greyhounds 5-2-0-1

Erie Otters (2) vs. Sarnia Sting (7)
Regular Season record – Otters: 50-14-2-2 (104 points); Sting: 39-32-4-3 (65 points)
Goals for – Otters: 331; Sting: 232
Goals against – Otters: 212; Sting: 263
Season series – Otters 3-1-0-0

London Knights (3) vs. Kitchener Rangers (6)
Regular Season record – Knights: 40-24-1-3 (84 points); Rangers: 32-26-3-7 (74 points)
Goals for – Knights: 289; Rangers: 216
Goals against – Rangers 221; Knights: 260
Season series – Rangers 3-1-2

Guelph Storm (4) vs. Owen Sound Attack (5)
Regular Season record – Storm: 38-26-2-2 (80 points); Attack: 35-24-2-7 (79 points)
Goals for – Attack: 240; Storm: 237
Goals against – Attack: 211; Storm: 237
Season series – Storm 5-2-1

Eastern Conference

Oshawa Generals (1) vs. Peterborough Petes (8)
Regular Season record – Generals: 51-11-2-4 (108 points); Petes: 26-36-1-5 (58 points)
Goals for – Generals: 292; Petes: 203
Goals against – Generals: 157; Petes: 268
Season series – Generals 7-1-0

Barrie Colts (2) vs. Belleville Bulls (7)
Regular Season record – Colts: 41-24-1-2 (85 points); Bulls: 27-33-3-5 (62 points)
Goals for – Colts: 278; Bulls: 203
Goals against – Colts: 227; Bulls: 246
Season series – Colts 2-0-0

North Bay Battalion (3) vs. Kingston Frontenacs (6)
Regular Season record – Battalion: 37-20-6-5 (85 points); Frontenacs: 32-28-5-3 (72 points)
Goals for – Battalion: 237; Frontenacs: 196
Goals against – Battalion: 195; Frontenacs: 197
Season series – Battalion 3-1-0

Ottawa 67’s (4) vs. Niagara IceDogs (5)
Regular Season record – 67’s: 38-25-4-1 (81 points); IceDogs: 37-27-2-2 (78 points)
Goals for: IceDogs: 274; 67’s: 239
Goals against – 67’s: 220; IceDogs: 237
Season series – 67’s 3-1-0