Wednesday, 22 March 2017

Eastern Conference Round 1: Oshawa Generals (3) vs Sudbury Wolves (6)

(2) Mississauga vs (7) Ottawa
(4) London vs (5) Windsor




This is the first meeting between these two Eastern Conference combatants in the playoffs since 1994. A series which was won by the Sudbury Wolves.

The season series between these two teams has been spirited to say the least with plenty of fights, majors and game misconducts. On paper these two teams are evenly matched so it may come down to who keeps their composure. A category I give an edge to Oshawa in. While both like to play physical the Generals tend to be more composure highlighted by the fact that they have more PPs this year than PKs where Sudbury has been shorthanded a league high 69 more times than on the PP. 


Players to Watch

Oshawa
Allan McShane: Came over to Oshawa from Erie in the Cirelli trade and has been one of the highest scoring trade deadline aquisitions with 21 points in 29 games.

Medric Mercier: Picked up from SSM early in the season Mercier lead all Dmen in the OHL with 22 goals this year. 21 of which came with Oshawa. His breakout allowed the Generals to move Vande Somple to London without expieriencing too much of a drop off.

Sudbury

Dimitry Sokolov: The Russian sniper potted 48 goals this season and was particularly dangerous on the power play where he added 17 which led all OHL players.

Macauley Carson: The 2nd year forward has blossomed this year picking up his first 30 goal season and watching his points per game total jump from .18 to .74. A relentless play with the puck and on the forecheck he will need to add secondary scoring to take pressure off of Sokolov.

Keys to the Series

Oshawa: Oshawa needs to stay composed. They are the better team and cant let Sudbury and more specifically the Pilon brothers to get under their skin and off their games. I physical and disciplined Oshawa will be difficult for Sudbury to overcome.

Sudbury: Needs to get Sokolov in a position to dominate. Oshawa will be trying to shut him down so making that job difficult will be key for the Sudbury coaching staff.

Season Series

Sept 23rd
OSH 3 @ SBY 4
Oct 16th
SBY 5 @ OSH 3
Oct 28th
OSH 3 @ SBY 1
Nov 13th
SBY 2 @ OSH 4


Other Previews

From @Generalsupdates is his preview of the Oshawa/Sudbury Series

From @DominicTiano is his Playoff preview for all 8 series

Prediction

This one is really close for me and I feel Oshawa is a prime upset candidate. While I like Sudbury's fire power I just dont trust them when the pressure is on or their ability to avoid stupid penalties which will give Oshawa the edge. For that I am picking the Generals in 6.

No comments:

Post a Comment