Other Previews
A first time playoff meeting between these two franchises if my quick research on Wikipedia is correct. This is the first Division and Conference regular season title for the Petes since 2005-06 which also happens to be the last time this storied franchise claimed the OHL title.
For the Icedogs the make it 10 straight playoff appearances while in St. Catharines as they avoided a "play-in" game when Kingston came roaring back against the Battalion on Sunday. The IceDogs are definitely in the rebuild faze of the junior hockey cycle but they have some fantastic pieces to build around especially '16 1st round pick Akil Thomas.
Players to Watch
Peterborough
Zach Gallant: After a disappointing
rooking campain in '15-'16 the Petes 2015 1st round has
blossomed in year two where he has jumped from .08 points per game to
.78. On top of that he has become one of the best faceoff men in the
OHL.
Matt Timms: The '98 born defender has
been an offensive catalyst for the Petes from the back end this year
when he became the first Petes defenceman to pick up 50 assist in a
season since Zach Bogosian.
Niagara
Akil Thomas: The highest scoring '00
born forward in the OHL. Thomas broke the Icedogs rookie scoring
record this year and should lead the Niagara offence next season.
Don't let his age fool you, he has the ability to cause Peterborough
problems this round
Ryan Mantha: After the New York Rangers
decided not to sign their 2014 draft pick Mantha came back as a man
on a mission and blew all his career scoring marks out of the water
on his way to earning a FA NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
Keys to the Series
Peterborough: Wells gets to star in a
playoff series against his hometown team. Peterborough will look to
have all 4 lines rolling and overwhelm the Icedogs as they will need
balanced scoring in the later rounds.
Niagara: The IceDogs have been putred
this year vs the top 5 teams in the East. Dhillion has the ability to
steal a game or two but can the offence produce enough to make this
plausible?
Season Series
Oct 2nd
NIA 3 @ PTB 5
Nov 8th
NIA 1 @ PTB 3
Jan 6th
PTB 3 @ NIA 4
Feb 3rd
PTB 3 @ NIA 2
Other Series Previews
They guys over at Icedogs This Week have already released their Series Preview
From @DominicTiano is his Playoff preview for all 8 series
From @NaitSayger comes his OHL playoff preview for SportsNet
Predictions
Petes in 5. Dhillon will steal a game but over all Wells and the depth of the Petes are too much for the IceDogs to over come.
They guys over at Icedogs This Week have already released their Series Preview
From @DominicTiano is his Playoff preview for all 8 series
From @NaitSayger comes his OHL playoff preview for SportsNet
Predictions
Petes in 5. Dhillon will steal a game but over all Wells and the depth of the Petes are too much for the IceDogs to over come.
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