(3) Sarnia vs (6) Windsor
Tale of the Tape
Hamilton Bulldogs 43-18-4-3
Head Coach
John Gruden (2nd Year with Hamilton)
Team Leaders
Robert Thomas 29 points in 22 games since coming over from the London Knights. The '99 born forward averaged over an assist per game with the Bulldogs. He had a shooting percentage of over 25% with the Knights but only 10% with the Bulldogs. Look for a bump in his goal scoring in the playoffs.
Brandon Saigeon 70 points in 65 games for the former top OHL draft pick has he is finally fulfilling on his upside now that he is healthy. He has been especially deadly on the power play and should feist on the 67s penalty kill this round
Will Bitten with 64 points in 62 games the Habs draft pick finally hit the point per game mark. He has always shown more promise than his production has shown but he has always put up big numbers against his hometown team. I would expect more of the same in this opening round.
Playoff Expierience
With 168 games of playoff expierience this Bulldogs team ranks 5th in that category in the East. Robert Thomas leads the way with 27 career games while Nicholas Mattinen has 19 games under his belt from his time with London. In their 7 games against Kingston last year Matthew Strome is the one player who really stood out as he picked up 8 points in the 7 game series.
Scoring Leaders vs Ottawa
Matthew Strome 7G 2A
Will Bitten 4G 5A
Marian Studinic 3G 5A
Brandon Saigeon 2G 4A
Ben Gleason 1G 5A
Team Averages
Goals Per Game 252 (2nd) 3.71
Goals Allowed Per game 207 (2nd) 3.04
Power Play 24.6%
Penalty Kill 77.1%
Special Teams Plus Minus +5
Age 18.56 (2nd)
Height 183.85 (13th)
Weight 82.93kg (11th)
What to Watch for
The Bulldogs did most of their damage this season at even strength which will help them out come playoff time if they can stay out of hte box and maintain a disciplined game. They are the 2nd oldest team in the OHL and middle of the pack in size. They can play multiple styles and should be able to adapt to whatever style best fits them based on their opponent.
Ottawa 67s 30-29-6-3
Head Coach
Andre Tourigny (1st season in OHL)
Team Leaders
Sasha Chmelevski 76 points in 68 games for the prized return from the Travis Konecny trade. The dynamic forward will be leaned upon against Hamilton but he will need plenty of help
Tye Felhaber 70 points in 68 games for the 19 year old as he finally showed the point per game promise he flashed as a minor midget star in the Ottawa Area. Was Saginaw's best player 4 years ago in their 4 game loss to the Greyhounds. I always felt that would be a jumping off point but that never happened. If he can play at that level with the developed skills he had now he could cause the Bulldogs defence some troubles.
Travis Barron 57 points in 67 games for the former 3rd overall selection. Barron will likely be off in the AHL next season so this may be his last horray in a 67s jersey. He will make things difficult for the Bulldogs top line but I am not sure if it will be enough to slow them down.
Playoff Experience
Ottawa has 121 games of Playoff experience and will use this series to gain some more heading into next season. Jacob Cascaganette leads the way with 35 games picked up during his time with Mississauga and Kitchener.
Scoring Leaders vs Hamilton
Austen Keating 1G 3A
Sasha Chmelevski 0G 3A
Travis Barron 1G 1A
Team Averages
Goals Per Game 225 (7th in East) 3.31
Goals Allowed Pergame 260 (8th in East) 3.82
Power Play: 16.3%
Penalty Kill: 78.8%
Special Teams PlusMinus: -17
Age: 17.87 (17th)
Height 184.30cm (9th)
Weight 81.74kg (16th)
What to Watch for
This is a young team (17th youngest in the OHL) who should be among the leaders in the East next season. That will especially be the case if they can some how pick up Michael DiPietro from the Spitfires. They have a young and exciting defence and some intriguing young options up front.
Season Series
Hamilton 5-0-0
Ottawa 0-5-0
Oct 22
OTT 0 @ HAM 3
Nov 18
HAM 5 @ OTT 2
Nov 25
OTT 2 @ HAM 6
Jan 20
HAM 9 @ OTT 3
Mar 2
OTT 1 @ HAM 3
Playoff History
These 2 franchices have met in the playoffs 5 times in the 20 team Era although all involved the Belleville Bulls portion of Hamilton's history. Belleville pulled out on top in 4 of the 5 meetings with Ottawa only winning the most recent battle in 2011-12. Only 2 of the 5 match ups took place in the 1st round with the other 3 all coming in round number 2.
Playoff Schedule
Game 1, Thurs., March 22 at Hamilton – 7:00p.m.
Game 2, Sun., March 25 at Hamilton – 7:30 p.m.
Game 3, Tues., March 27 at Ottawa – 7:00 p.m.
Game 4, Wed., March 28 at Ottawa – 7:00 p.m.
Game 5, Fri., March 30 at Hamilton – 7:00 p.m.
Game 6, Sun., April 1 at Ottawa – 2:00 p.m.
Game 7, Tues., April 3 at Hamilton – 7:00 p.m.
Prediction
I cant see Ottawa stealing any game in this series especially with their goaltending the way it is. Hamilton is the superior team from top to bottom and will use this as a tune up as the build towards an East title.
Hamilton in 4 straight.
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