2013/14 OHL Assessments (Part 5) & Memorial Cup Predictions

Another Ontario Hockey League season is in the history books, but not before the Guelph Storm and the North Bay Battalion put on one heck of a championship series, even if it lasted five games.

Okay, the fourth game of the series was a total beating by Guelph, but the two teams traded victories to kick off the series, and the Storm had two crazy comebacks to win Games 3 and 5. It wasn’t quite like the insanity that happened between Barrie and London a year ago, but it certainly stood out after a sub-par 2014 playoffs in the OHL.

At the end of the day, the best team in the league won, so we can’t complain too much about that. However, how did everyone miss on Guelph as being the dominant force that they were? Perhaps we expected London to run over everyone as the Memorial Cup hosts, but Guelph’s team was strong right from the start. Sure, getting Kerby Rychel and Nick Ebert from Windsor helped them out, but this is a lot different than Owen Sound’s stunning win three years ago.

Anyways, with the Memorial Cup starting up on Friday, I’ll be talking a lot about that in this blog post. But first, the final two team assessments of the 2013/14 OHL season.

North Bay Battalion (38-24-4-2 – 1st in Central Division/2nd in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by Guelph Storm in five games)

What I Predicted: The Battalion have a chance to be one of the top teams in the Conference and may go on a deep playoff run as well, which should make the long wait worth it for those in North Bay.

What Actually Happened: Pretty much that. They snuck away with the Central division crown, bounced back from being down 3-1 to Niagara in the first round, and swept aside Oshawa in the conference finals. The ending wasn’t the best, but it was an amazing run by North Bay.

What Lies Ahead: They will lose three overage forwards (Barclay Goodrow, Matt MacLeod, and Ben Thomson), but almost everyone else is set to come back. It’s hard to say with they will be in the finals once again, but North Bay will be right in the mix.

Guelph Storm (52-12-2-2 – 1st in Midwest Division/1st in Western Conference – 2013/14 Ontario Hockey League Champions)

What I Predicted: The Storm should more than likely contend for a home playoff spot in the Western Conference this year, with the addition of Justin Nichols in goal answering the team’s one major question mark.

What Actually Happened: I was right about Nichols, but I didn’t expect Guelph’s squad to become the best team in the league. They were the top squad in the regular season, and they pretty much took care of everything its path on their way to the Storm’s first league title since 2004.

What Lies Ahead: The first task is the Memorial Cup, where the Storm will attempt to win its first ever national title and the first for an OHL team since the Windsor Spitfires accomplished that feat in 2010. Next year might be a tough one for the Storm though, as they could potentially lose six forwards, and four defencemen to graduation and the pro ranks. They will still have some talented players around, but they won’t be as strong as they were this year.

So that brings us to this year’s Memorial Cup, which kicks off in London on Friday. On the surface, this year’s tournament might be as strong, if not stronger, than the 2013 edition of the event.

Sure it doesn’t have the star power that we saw in Saskatoon with Jonathan Drouin, Seth Jones, and Nathan MacKinnon all showing off their skills ahead of the NHL Draft, but with teams this good.

Trying to actually predict a round-robin tournament is a near impossible task, but I shall attempt to do so yet again. I look forward to your laughter in a week’s time.

4) Val-d’Or Foreurs (QMJHL Champions)

Why They Will Win: They took care of the defending Memorial Cup champion Halifax Mooseheads and the top-ranked Baie-Comeau Drakkar just to get this far. Their goalie Antoine Bibeau has been a difference maker since coming from Charlottetown in a trade, plus they have goal-scoring machine Anthony Mantha.

Why They Won’t Win: Going through back-to-back seven game wars won’t help a whole lot, and they don’t quite have the depth of the other three teams in the field. Now granted, I don’t watch much of the action in the QMJHL, so I may be totally off base on that assumption.

Player To Watch: Anthony Mantha – Including his playoff stats, the Detroit Red Wings prospect has 81 goals in 81 games in the QMJHL this season. Val-d’Or will need their offensive leader to keep up his scoring ways if they want to make it all the way to the title game.

3) London Knights (Host Team)

Why They Will Win: They are a veteran team who have been through this experience the last two years, and they are playing on their home ice in London.

Why They Won’t Win: They haven’t played a meaningful game since April. The lay-off didn’t affect Shawinigan in 2012 though, so they may use that as something to draw from.

Player To Watch: Anthony Stolarz – After missing the entire second round series against Guelph while serving a suspension for slashing Windsor’s Josh Ho-Sang in the head in round one, Stolarz will be under the microscope big time.

2) Guelph Storm (OHL Champions)

Why They Will Win: They ran through two of the best teams in the OHL (London and Erie) already, plus they can seemingly get goals from anyone in the lineup.

Why They Won’t Win: Justin Nichols unravels at the worst possible moment. While I personally don’t think that will happen, many still believe that the netminder is the weak link on this side.

Player To Watch: Robby Fabbri – The 2014 NHL Draft prospect had his coming out party in the playoffs, and may increase his stock even more with a strong showing in London.

1) Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL Champions)

Why They Will Win: They are arguably the most loaded team in the field, and having lost the tiebreaker game in 2012, they will be hungry to redeem themselves.

Why They Won’t Win: The Oil Kings just went through another seven-game war with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL final, so they might not have enough left in the tank.

Player To Watch: Griffin Reinhart  – A dominant force at the back end for the Oil Kings, the Islanders first round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft will be looking to finish out his WHL career on a winning note.

That does it for now. I hope you get a chance to watch some, if not all of the Memorial Cup over the next week. It’s without a doubt one of my favourite events of the year.

2013/14 OHL Assesments (Part 4) & CHL Final Predictions

Let’s be frank. The 2014 OHL playoffs have been super lacklustre.

I touched on this a little bit after the super-short second round series in the Western Conference, but after a five-game win by Guelph and a series sweep by North Bay in the conference finals, I am pretty much convinced that this year’s post-season has been one of the most disappointing in quite some time.

When it comes to classic series, there’s only been one, which was Peterborough’s comeback from 3-0 down to beat Kingston in overtime in Game 7. When it comes to good series, there’s only been two, and they both involved North Bay as they came back to win in seven games over Niagara in round one and then beat Barrie in a tight six-game affair.

How does this compare to the other CHL leagues? Well the WHL has had one really good series (Medicine Hat vs. Kootenay) and two pretty good ones (Medicine Hat vs. Swift Current and Calgary vs. Kootenay), while the QMJHL has had three awesome series (Rimouski vs. Blainville-Boisbriand, Baie-Comeau vs. Blainville-Boisbriand, and Halifax vs. Val-d’Or).

Heck, even the Frozen Four blows the OHL playoffs out of the water, especially if you just played the crazy finish to Minnesota and North Dakota on a loop for nine hours.

Perhaps the Guelph and North Bay affair will end up being just as good as last year’s seven-game thriller with Barrie and London, but it looks as like this post-season will only be memorable for the fans of the team that wins it all.

Anyways, enough rambling from me. Let’s get things rolling by taking a look at the two teams that missed out on the OHL finals.

Oshawa Generals (42-20-0-6 – 1st in East Division/1st in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by North Bay Battalion in four games)

What I Predicted: Though they fell two rounds short of matching my prediction of reaching the OHL finals last year, I am still expecting this team to contend in the conference once again this season.  

What Actually Happened: No one had the Generals making it to the end of the season, but they looked like the team to beat in the East after two straight sweeps in the playoffs. However, that run would come to a screeching halt against North Bay, preventing the Generals from making its first trip to the finals since they won the title in 1997.

What Lies Ahead: Some regression after the last couple of seasons. Scott Laughton and Daniel Altshuller will both be leaving the junior ranks and heading to the pros, and their losses will be tough to replace. However, Michael Dal Colle will still be around, and the defence will have some interesting young guys coming in.

Erie Otters (52-14-2-0 – 2nd in Midwest Division/3rd in Western Conference – Eliminated by Guelph Storm in five games)

What I Predicted: Will the Otters earn a home playoff seed? Probably not, but this is a team that many will not want to face with the amount of firepower that they have.  

What Actually Happened: The firepower was impressive, and the back-end matched up to it, which allowed Erie to earn a home-playoff seed with ease and contend for the number one seed. Even though they lost in five games to Guelph, it was easily the best season that the Otters have had in over a decade.

What Lies Ahead: Dane Fox, Connor Brown, Brendan Gaunce, Adam Pelech, and Oscar Dansk will all be leaving, so there has to be some sort of drop-off. With that said, Connor McDavid will still be around barring some sort of shocking trade, with Dylan Strome, Andre Burakovsky, and recent signee Alex DiBrincat also leading the attack. Plus, with Devin Williams taking over the starting job from Dansk in goal during the playoffs, the Otters have the pieces in place to be possibly be a force yet again.

I don’t want to put any pressure on the Storm or Battalion, but they have to match this thriller from last season. Best of luck with that.

Anyways, it’s time for my predictions, with an added bonus. I’ve decided to not only pick the OHL championship series, but I am also throwing my hat into the ring for the WHL and QMJHL finals. This will only end in disaster.

1) Guelph Storm vs. 4) North Bay Battalion: Guelph in five (As I’ve stated in the past, I really want North Bay to win as a Northern Ontario boy. However, I just feel that the Storm have way too much fire power for the Battalion to stop. I mean, if London or Erie couldn’t slow them down, who can?)

1) Edmonton Oil Kings vs. 2) Portland Winterhawks: Edmonton in seven (For the third season in a row, these two teams will battle it out in the WHL finals, and it should be the best title series of the bunch in the CHL. I can see this going either way to be honest, but I am taking Edmonton based upon the fact that they have Tristan Jarry in goal, as that for me is a huge difference maker when compared to Winterhawks netminder Corbin Boes.)

1) Baie-Comeau Drakkar vs. 3) Val-d’Or Foreurs: Baie-Comeau in six (I don’t follow the Q as much as the other two CHL leagues, so it’s hard for me to give a full answer on this one. However, I think the Drakkar are a much stronger team from top-to-bottom, and their depth will give them the advantage.)

Alright, that does it for now. Enjoy the championship series kids, and get yourself ready for the Memorial Cup in a couple of weeks.

2013/14 OHL Assesments (Part 3) & Semi Final Predictions

Although Barrie and North Bay delivered an awesome matchup in the Eastern Conference, one could see the second round of this year’s OHL playoffs as a bit of a disappointment.

Okay, you probably could of assumed that the Oshawa and Peterborough series would have been pretty lopsided in the Generals favour, but I doubt anyone would have expected the two Western Conference quarterfinals would be done in rather short order.

While the games in both series were close ones for the most part, the Erie Otters’ offence proved too much for the  Soo Greyhounds too handle in its four game sweep, and the Guelph Storm’s depth was more than likely the key difference to knocking out the London Knights in five games.

I highly doubt that the two conference finals will be short contests, but if they are, this year’s playoffs may end up being a rather disappointing one. Especially with the amount of hype going into it.

Before I get to my predictions for the semis, here are my thoughts on the four teams that were knocked out in the second round.

Peterborough Petes (32-30-0-6 – 3rd in Eastern Division/6th in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by Oshawa Generals in four games)

What I Predicted: If no big players are dealt, which seems like an annual occurrence with this team, a playoff spot is in the cards for the Petes come March.

What Actually Happened: No one major was traded for once, and thanks to a dramatic come-from-behind series win over Kingston, the Petes advanced to the second round for the first time since they won the OHL title in 2006.

What Lies Ahead: A possible home playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. They will lose overage defenders Nelson Armstrong and Clark Seymour, overage netminder Andrew D’Agostini, but pretty much everyone else will be coming back.

Barrie Colts (37-28-1-2 – 2nd in Central Division/4th in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by North Bay Battalion in six games)

What I Predicted: I don’t believe that the Colts will end up returning to the OHL finals this year, but I do think that this will be a side that gets better as the year goes on, and that Barrie will be a tough team for anyone to play against in the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

What Actually Happened: Pretty much that. The Colts had a chance to win the division and made short work of Sudbury in the first round. In fact, you can make a case that they might of had a chance to win the Eastern Conference title given its postseason showing.

What Lies Ahead: A little bit of a regression. With a few graduating from the forward core, it might take a little bit for the younger guys to step up, and that process might also happen on the back end if Aaron Ekblad goes straight to the NHL.

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (44-17-2-5 – 1st in West Division/2nd in Western Conference – Eliminated by Erie Otters in four games)

What I Predicted: I think the Greyhounds should hover around the battle for the sixth playoff spot this season, with a chance to earn a home playoff seed if the stars align.

What Actually Happened: A team that I thought would be a major threat come next season arrive a year earlier that I expected. Not only did they earn that home playoff seed, but they won a division title for the first time since 2008.

What Lies Ahead: With this year’s playoff experience in their record books, the Greyhounds might be the team to beat in the Western Conference come next season. Granted they do lose Matt Murray to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization and Darnell Nurse may be headed to Edmonton full-time, but this team will return a lot more than others.

London Knights (49-14-1-4 – 3rd in Midwest Division/4th in Western Conference – Eliminated by Guelph Storm in five games)

What I Predicted: This Knights team is once again a force to be reckoned with. Even though they are already going to the Memorial Cup as the hosts, anything less will be viewed as a disappointment.

What Actually Happened: The Knights did have a strong year, but their total of 103 points were not enough to even win its division. Perhaps it was their inconsistent form, the loss of Olli Mattaa to the NHL, Anthony Stolarz’s injury and playoff suspension, or a young defensive core. But no matter the reason, this year’s Knights team were unable to match the success of the past two squads.

What Lies Ahead: First there is the Memorial Cup, where the Knights will have to get back into game-shape after having almost a month off. When it comes to next year, the team will be losing Stolarz, three overage defenders, and a number of drafted 94-born forwards. Plus, Max Domi, Bo Horvat, and Nikita Zadorov may all move on to the NHL. The window may finally be closing, for now at least.

What do you mean North Bay isn’t rocking these uniforms all of the time? Well that’s a major disappointment, especially as we head into my Conference Finals predictions.

Eastern Conference

1) Oshawa Generals vs. 2) North Bay Battalion: Oshawa in six (As a Northern Ontario lad, I’m rooting for North Bay here, especially since the Greyhounds are out. However, I feel like the Generals might be the better side overall here, especially with Scott Laughton and Michael Dal Colle up front. Daniel Altshuller has shut down everyone thus far as well, but the Battalion are a much tougher team to go up against than the Steeleheads and the Petes.)

Western Conference

1) Guelph Storm vs. 3) Erie Otters: Guelph in seven (I tossed and turned over this one, as both sides are pretty much even from top-to-bottom, well other than McJesus versus everyone in an NHL Draft prospect party. In the end, I decided to go with the Storm though, mainly because of the fact that they have home ice. Anything less than a seven-game series between these two talented teams will be a major disappointment.)

2013/14 OHL Assesments (Part 2) & Second Round Predictions

As ever, the opening round of the OHL playoffs was a tale of two conferences. (What a terrible way to start this blog post off I know).

The proceedings Western Conference was pretty straight forward, minus London Knights goalie Anthony Stolarz channelling his inner Ron Hextall and a bit of a test for the Erie Otters from the Saginaw Spirit.

However, the first round in the Eastern Conference ended up being really interesting. For starters, the Mississauga Steelheads took the top-ranked Oshawa Generals to three overtime games, and the Barrie Colts took the Sudbury Wolves behind the woodshed in a series that I thought would be a lot closer.

Then we had two game seven’s. After trailing by a 3-1 margin, the North Bay Battalion roared back to life and defeated the Niagara Ice Dogs by a score of 2-1, thanks in large part to an impressive third period showing on home ice.

But the biggest story was in Kingston, where Nick Ritchie’s overtime goal gave Peterborough the series victory over the Frontenacs, and made the Petes only the fourth team in league history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. The collapse by the Frontenacs means that they still haven’t won a playoff series since 1998, and it is far away the most shocking development from the first round of the post-season.

So before we look ahead to the second round of the playoffs, let’s bid a fond farewell to the eight teams who have seen their season come to a conclusion.

Mississauga Steelheads (24-38-1-5 – 5th in Central Division/8th in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by Oshawa Generals in four games)

What I Predicted: While I’m having a hard time seeing them making the playoffs this year, I will not be surprised if the Steelheads are right in the mix in the Eastern Conference in a couple more seasons.

What Actually Happened: Once again, the Steelheads snuck into the post-season and gave the top team in the conference a run for their money. Sunrise, sunset.

What Lies Ahead: I might actually have the Steelheads as a sure-fire playoff team come next season. The entire defence is pretty much returning, and they actually have a possible high-point producer in Bryson Cianfrone. However, they will probably need a big season from Spencer Martin in goal in order to do that.

Niagara Ice Dogs (24-35-3-6 – 4th in Central Division/7th in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by North Bay Battalion in seven games)

What I Predicted: At the moment, I have the Ice Dogs missing the playoffs, but they might prove me wrong if the young players and the goaltending do well.

What Actually Happened: Although Chris Festarini left the team around the deadline, Brent Moran was alright in a bigger role, and Brendan Perlini had a break-out campaign to lead the younger scorers into the post-season. They just about pulled off a huge upset over North Bay, but it wasn’t to be.

What Lies Ahead: With a ton of 1996 born players on the roster, the Ice Dogs should be in the mix for a home playoff seed in its first year in their brand new arena (the Meridian Centre) in St. Catharines. It’s a little bit early to know exactly how the offence will be, but with Perlini and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Carter Verhaeghe leading the way, they might be the best one-two punch in the Eastern Conference if it all plays out right.

Plymouth Whalers (28-33-0-7 – 4th in West Division/8th in Western Conference – Eliminated by Guelph Storm in five games)

What I Predicted: If the Whalers can answer the questions around it’s new additions, this is a team that will not only be in the hunt for a home seed come playoff time, but they could find themselves once again facing London for a spot in the OHL finals.

What Actually Happened: Well obviously not that. They continued their playoff streak for yet another season, but losing a ton of guys from last season’s Western Conference finalists and bringing in a ton of new faces took a lot longer to mesh than I expected.

What Lies Ahead: It’s the Plymouth Whalers. Do you really think they will have another off year? Both goalies will be back, and the only big name that they will lose to the pro ranks will be Ryan Hartman. Also keep an eye on US NTDP forwards Sonny Milano and Jordan Greenway, who I wouldn’t be surprised to see in the OHL for the 2014/15 campaign.

Owen Sound Attack (31-29-3-5 – 4th in Midwest Division/7th in Western Conference – Eliminated by Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in five games)

What I Predicted: I see the Attack fighting it out in that third to fifth range as the season winds down, but if the question mark in goal answers itself early, this is a side that might be a sleeper pick in the Western Conference.

What Actually Happened: Brandon Hope and QMJHL waiver pick up Jack Flynn weren’t bad in goal, and the squad was pretty solid, but being in the same division as Erie, Guelph, and London didn’t help matters any.

What Lies Ahead: Since the Attack will only lost their three overage player to graduation (the most notable being Kurtis Gabriel), this team should be contender to earn home ice advantage for the 2015 playoffs. Once again though, it will be interesting to see if Flynn and Hope will be the netminding duo once the season starts.

Saginaw Spirit (33-30-4-1 – 3rd in West Division/6th in Western Conference – Eliminated by Erie Otters in five games)

What I Predicted: It might take a little bit for the Spirit’s blue line to get up to speed with everyone else. If they are able to do that, the Spirit should not only win their division, but also provide the Knights with a challenge in the postseason.

What Actually Happened: My faith in the Spirit was a bit off. Jake Paterson, while solid yet again, wasn’t the world beater that I though he would be in his final OHL season. They made a big move at the deadline on defence to add Jesse Graham, but they still found themselves up against the high-flying Erie Otters. They pushed the Otters to three overtime games though, and played very well given the fact that it was just days after the passing of Spirit forward Terry Trafford.

What Lies Ahead: It’s kind of hard to say at this point, the Spirit lose quite a bit when it comes to graduates, but they do have some solid pieces up front coming back in Jimmy Lodge, Nick Moutrey, Dylan Sadowy, and Blake Clarke. Whether or not those players will be used as trade bait to fix up the back-end for the future, remains to be seen.

Sudbury Wolves (33-24-3-8 – 3rd in Central Division/5th in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by Barrie Colts in five games)

What I Predicted:  If everything goes to plan, and the Wolves forwards are as good as they look, Sudbury has their best chance to make some noise in the post-season since their run to the league finals in 2007.

What Actually Happened: A pretty disappointing campaign to say the least. Sudbury looked to have a division title in it’s grasp around the deadline, and even loaded up a little bit by getting Trevor Carrick on defence and forward Radek Faksa. Instead, things went south late, as they lost home ice advantage and ended up being shoved aside by Barrie.

What Lies Ahead: A pretty interesting summer. The defence will be younger next year, and Troy Timpano might take the full starting load in his second year, even though a nice Import goalie draft pick would help a lot with that if it was still allowed (Thanks a lot David Branch). The biggest question mark will be up front, as the team has five forwards who will be overage candidates.

Windsor Spitfires (37-28-3-0 – 2nd in West Division/5th in Western Conference – Eliminated by London Knights in four games)

What I Predicted: If Jordan DeKort does well, the Spitfires could be in the mix for a home seed come March. But if things go South, this team could be scratching and clawing just to get into the dance.

What Actually Happened: DeKort was replaced early in the proceedings by Alex Fotinos of Barrie, and the team had a chance to possibly win the division over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the later part of the season. However, when Slater Koekkoek suffered yet another season-ending shoulder surgery, things went south in a hurry and they were no match for the Knights.

What Lies Ahead: Though they will lose Koekkoek, Ben Johnson, and Brady Vail, the Spitfires won’t fall too far off next season, especially with Joshua Ho-Sang leading the way and if they are able to land Montreal Canadiens draft pick and 2013 import draft pick Jacob De La Rose. As ever, I expect the Spits to take a run at some college guys, namely defender Will Butcher and forward Nick Schmaltz.

Kingston Frontenacs (39-23-3-3 – 2nd in East Division/3rd in Eastern Conference – Eliminated by Peterborough Petes in seven games)

What I Predicted: For a team that’s only made the conference finals once in their franchise history (in 1993), it’s hard to imagine the Frontenacs actually jumping over that hurdle after years in the wilderness. But if everything goes right for them, a trip to the OHL finals might be in the cards.

What Actually Happened: The Kingston Curse struck again big time, as the Frontenacs will go down as the fourth team in league history to blow a 3-0 series lead, and will also join the 2004/05 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds as the only clubs to lose the seventh and final game on home ice. They had many chances to wrap up the series, including an early 3-0 lead in Game Six, but they were unable to seal the deal.

What Lies Ahead: On the one hand, most of the top players on the team should be back, with the biggest being leading scorer Sam Bennett. However, overage goalie Matt Mahalak will be leaving town, which means their will again be more questions marks in between the pipes, which could have been solved with bringing an import if they allowed it in the CHL (Again, thanks a lot David Branch.) Plus, given the collapse in the first round, it will be curious to see how the team will try and move on from what happened.

Before we get to my second round predictions, let’s take a minute to discuss the legend that is David Ling, especially with what happened to the Frontenacs in the first round.

Back in the 1994/95 season, Ling went off big time with 135 points to finish second in league scoring (in a tie with Windsor’s Bill Bowler and four points behind Oshawa’s Marc Savard) and picked up the CHL Player of the Year award.

He continued that scoring pace in the playoffs, with 15 points in just six games, despite playing with a broken thumb. But why only six games? Well, despite having a bye in the first round (only 14 teams made the playoffs back then), the team were knocked off in the quarter-finals by the Belleville Bulls, bringing an end to arguably the best squad the Frontenacs have ever had.

Okay, I’ll be honest, I mainly did this just to delay my playoff picks for Round 2, as I am still debating who is going to win the two massive series in the Western Conference.

Eastern Conference

1) Oshawa Generals vs. 6) Peterborough Petes: Oshawa in five (After stunning Kingston, I expect the Petes to have a ton of momentum heading into the second round. However, the Generals are just too strong in my opinion to be knocked off here.)

2) North Bay Battalion vs. 4) Barrie Colts: Barrie in six (This is a series that can go either way, but with Barrie easily taking care of Sudbury and North Bay having to go through a seven-game battle with Niagara, I think that will be a major advantage for the Colts.)

Western Conference

1) Guelph Storm vs. 4) London Knights: London in seven (Yes, the Knights don’t have Anthony Stolarz for the entire series after his suspension for slashing Joshua Ho-Sang,  defender Zach Bell is out for the entire playoffs, and fellow blueliner Brady Austin is not out of action because of mono. However, this team has won the last two league titles, and I picked them to win the championship yet again back in the fall. I would be silly to bet against them now.)

2) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. 3) Erie Otters: Sault Ste. Marie in seven (Okay this is my hometown bias pick, but my mind was made up during the Saginaw series. With the Spirit pushing the Otters to overtime on three occasions, they showed the blue-print for what can be done to beat the high-flying squad. With the Greyhounds squad being stronger than Saginaw, I honestly think they have what it takes to what some might see as an upset.)

I’m off to try and prepare myself for the two series I just talked about, so I’ll catch up with you all again for the semi-finals.

2013/14 OHL Assesments (Part 1) & First Round Predictions

So here we go again. After another interesting regular season, the 2014 OHL playoffs will start off on Thursday, with a bevy of story-lines in store.

In the East, the Oshawa Generals look to be the team to beat, but the North Bay Battalion have been strong as of late and might be a stern test for them. Plus, the Barrie Colts and Sudbury Wolves are going head-to-head in a series that you could easily see happening in the conference finals, let alone the first round.

The opening set of series in the Western Conference should be straight forward, as all eyes are set on two insane second round affairs between Guelph/London and Sault Ste. Marie/Erie. However, anything can happen in the first round, so an upset might be in store that no one is expecting.

But before we get to all of that, we have to say our goodbyes to the four teams that missed out on the playoffs, and also take a look at what lies ahead for those clubs.

Sarnia Sting (17-44-2-5 – 5th in West Division/10th in Western Conference – Eliminated on Friday, February 28)

What I Predicted: When it comes down to it, this might be a long winter for fans in Sarnia, as the Sting seem set to return to the bottom of the league.

What Actually Happened: Exactly that. Despite the scoring exploits of Nikolay Goldobin and Anthony DeAngelo, it wasn’t enough to keep the Sting out of the cellar. However, they did allow Soo Greyhounds forward Sergey Tolchinsky to score the goal of the season, so there is that.

What Lies Ahead: Other than a change in team ownership, the Sting is currently preparing to make the first overall pick in April’s draft. It’s the fourth time that the team has had the top selection, having drafted Jeff Brown (1994), Steven Stamkos (2006) and Alex Galchenyuk (2010) previously. Toronto Junior Canadians defenceman Jakob Chychrun is widely considered to be the top overall selection, but don’t be surprised if they end up taking Vaughn Kings forward Adam Mascherin.

Kitchener Rangers (22-41-2-3 – 5th in Midwest Division/9th in Western Conference – Eliminated on Thursday, March 6)

What I Predicted: It seems like it might be  a couple of years until the Rangers go back to the top of the mountain, but I have proven wrong by this team before.

What Actually Happened: My first instinct was right. The Rangers found themselves fighting for scraps in a division where Guelph, Erie, and London ran roughshod, and the massive changes in the roster from last season proved too much to overcome.

What Lies Ahead: There are some good pieces in the Rangers lineup, especially at forward, so I expect them to be in the playoff mix once again in 2014/15. The only question mark I have is the goaltending, and since no one can draft import netminders anymore (Thanks a lot David Branch), I am expecting Kitchener to take a long look at Michigan recruit Hayden Lavigne, whose rights they got at the deadline from Belleville.

Ottawa 67’s (23-39-3-3 – 5th in East Division/10th in Eastern Conference – Eliminated on Sunday, March 16)

What I Predicted: There is a chance that this team could make the post-season again this season, despite finishing in the basement when things wrapped up last March.

What Actually Happened: The 67’s had an opportunity to force a tiebreaker game against Mississauga if they were able to beat North Bay on the last day of the season, but were blown out of the building in a 12-1 loss to the Battalion instead. As a result of that defeat, the club will miss the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in its history.

What Lies Ahead: A move back to the Ottawa Civic Centre (or whatever it’s called these days) is the biggest thing, along with having a second season out of Travis Konecny to build the offence around. Chris Byrne will probably be the most likely coach on the hot seat at the start of the campaign, so the key will be not to get off to a slow start.

Belleville Bulls (23-38-4-3 – 4th in East Division/9th in Eastern Conference – Eliminated on Friday, March 14)

What I Predicted: I think the Bulls will be around the bottom of that six team logjam that will contend for the Eastern Conference crown, but given the fact that the East is such a mess right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulls sneak into the discussion for the East Division title.

What Actually Happened: Well certainly not that. Despite a slow start, and trading away Brendan Gaunce to Erie, the Bulls still had a chance to sneak into the post-season before losing in overtime to Oshawa in it’s second last game of the season. Nevertheless, it was a quick drop-off from a team that was a win away from being in the finals a year earlier.

What Lies Ahead: The biggest question is where exactly the Bulls will be playing in a few years time. The team’s lease at the Yardmen Arena runs out next season, and the debate is raging on whether the facility will be renovated or if a new arena will be built. With Chatham seemingly always coming up now in relocation rumours, it will be interesting to see what happens next with this team.

It has come to my attention from a number of well-placed and reliable sources, that this former North Bay Centennials legend is no longer playing in the league, thus rendering the 2014 OHL playoffs meaningless.

Nevertheless, I suppose I should still go about making my soon-to-be wrong playoff picks here for the opening round of the post-season, since that’s what everyone is here for anyways.

Eastern Conference

1) Oshawa Generals vs. 8) Mississauga Steelheads: Oshawa in four (The Generals are just too strong for the Steelheads in this one. I expect this series to be rather one-sided.)

2) North Bay Battalion vs. 7) Niagara Ice Dogs: North Bay in four (For the first time since 2002, OHL playoff hockey has returned to the Gateway City, and the fans there should be rewarded for their long wait with a nice playoff run. Like the Generals/Steelheads series, this one should be over quickly.)

3) Kingston Frontenacs vs. 6) Peterborough Petes: Kingston in five (It’s nice to see the Petes back in the post-season, but I don’t think they have enough to match up with Kingston on offence.)

4) Barrie Colts vs. 5) Sudbury Wolves: Sudbury in seven (This is easily the most interesting series of the first round, and I can see this going either way. However, since I picked Sudbury to be in the OHL finals back in the fall, I’m not going to change things around now.)

Western Conference

1) Guelph Storm vs. 8) Plymouth Whalers: Guelph in five (Since the Whalers never miss the post-season, I can see them taking at least one game from the Storm. But an entire series? I doubt that will happen.)

2) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds vs. 7) Owen Sound Attack: Sault Ste. Marie in four (This series is a rematch of the awesome six-game affair the two sides had in the first round back in 2013, but I don’t think this one will be quite as exciting. However, since I picked the Greyhounds to win in a sweep, watch out for something truly strange to end up happening.)

3) Erie Otters vs. 6) Saginaw Spirit: Erie in five (Given everything that the Spirit have gone through since the death of Terry Trafford, I expect them to put in all that they have left in the tank into trying to pull off the upset. However, Erie has way too much firepower offensively to try and contain over a seven game series.)

4) London Knights vs. 5) Windsor Spitfires: London in five (For awhile, I thought this would be a really tough test for the Knights in the first round. But with Windsor; defender Slater Koekkoek suffering another season-ending shoulder injury, and London finishing off the season strongly, the Memorial Cup hosts should make their way to the second round with ease.)

Anyways, that does it for now, or until the second round at least. Enjoy the playoffs kids, it should be a heck of a ride.