The Ontario Hockey League’s second season matchups are all set with play beginning tomorrow night on three fronts: the Erie Otters host the Sarnia Sting, Niagara Ice Dogs visit the Peterborough Pets and the Flint Firebirds travel to Sault Ste Marie to take on the Greyhounds.
The remaining series all begin on Friday evening.
Below, you will see how the competition did during the regular season and against each other. You will also see a list of players to watch (not all eligible are listed) that are eligible for the 2017 National Hockey League Draft in June as well as my predictions.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Peterborough Petes vs (8) Niagara Ice Dogs
| Peterborough | Niagara | |
| Overall Record | 42-21-2-3 | 23-35-6-4 |
| Last 10 games | 7-3-0-0 | 4-6-0-0 |
| Head-to-Head | 3-1-0-0 | 1-3-0-0 |
| Home Record | 24-7-2-1 | 15-15-1-3 |
| Away Record | 18-14-0-2 | 8-20-5-1 |
| Goals For | 239 | 207 |
| Goals Against | 221 | 274 |
| Powerplay | 20.7% | 15.5% |
| Penalty Kill | 80.7% | 79.6% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Cole Fraser (D) | Ben Jones (C) |
| Zach Gallant (C) | Kirill Maksimov (RW) | |
| Nick Isaacson (LW) | Oliver Castleman (LW) | |
| Matyas Svoboda (LW) | Matthew Philip (C) | |
| Ondrej Machala (C) | ||
| Stephen Dhillon (G) |
*Note: Stephen Dhillon was eligible for the 2016 NHL Draft but passed over and is eligible for 2017
Prediction: Peterborough in 6 games
(2) Mississauga Steelheads vs (7) Ottawa 67’s
| Mississauga | Ottawa | |
| Overall Record | 34-21-6-7 | 26-34-7-1 |
| Last 10 games | 8-2-0-0 | 4-4-2-0 |
| Head-to-Head | 2-0-2-0 | 2-2-0-0 |
| Home Record | 16-11-4-3 | 13-20-0-1 |
| Away Record | 18-10-2-4 | 13-14-6-1 |
| Goals For | 240 | 221 |
| Goals Against | 219 | 271 |
| Powerplay | 19.7% | 18.0% |
| Penalty Kill | 80.6% | 79.1% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Nicolas Hague (D) | Noel Hoefenmayer |
| Owen Tippett (RW) | Sasha Chmelevski | |
| Shaw Boomhower (C) | Austen Keating |
Prediction: Mississauga in 5 games
(3) Oshawa Generals vs (6) Sudbury Wolves
| Oshawa | Sudbury | |
| Overall Record | 40-23-3-2 | 27-34-7-0 |
| Last 10 games | 6-4-0-0 | 4-6-0-0 |
| Head-to-Head | 2-2-0-0 | 2-2-0-0 |
| Home Record | 25-9-0-0 | 15-13-6-0 |
| Away Record | 15-14-3-2 | 12-21-1-0 |
| Goals For | 228 | 207 |
| Goals Against | 215 | 265 |
| Powerplay | 18.8% | 17.8% |
| Penalty Kill | 83.1% | 81.7% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Jack Studnicka (C) | Macauley Carson |
| Kyle Keyser (G) | Drake McGrath |
Prediction: Oshawa in 6 games
(4) Kingston Frontenacs vs (5) Hamilton Bulldogs
| Kingston | Hamilton | |
| Overall Record | 33-26-5-4 | 33-27-4-4 |
| Last 10 games | 6-4-0-0 | 4-4-0-2 |
| Head-to-Head | 3-3-0-0 | 3-2-0-1 |
| Home Record | 20-9-3-2 | 16-12-3-3 |
| Away Record | 13-17-2-2 | 17-15-1-1 |
| Goals For | 179 | 238 |
| Goals Against | 200 | 225 |
| Powerplay | 22.1% | 20.2% |
| Penalty Kill | 78.1% | 77.7% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Jacob Paquette (D) | Matthew Strome (LW) |
| Eemeli Rasanen (D) | Marian Studenic (C) | |
| Jason Robertson (LW) | MacKenzie Entwistle (RW) | |
| Linus Nyman (RW) | Kaden Fulcher (G) |
Prediction: Hamilton in 7 games
WESTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Erie Otters vs (8) Sarnia Sting
| Erie Otters | Sarnia Sting | |
| Overall Record | 50-15-2-1 | 31-30-6-1 |
| Last 10 games | 6-4-0-0 | 5-4-1-0 |
| Head-to-Head | 3-1-0-0 | 1-3-0-0 |
| Home Record | 30-2-1-1 | 20-12-2-0 |
| Away Record | 20-13-1-0 | 11-18-4-1 |
| Goals For | 319 | 257 |
| Goals Against | 182 | 277 |
| Powerplay | 27.2% | 18.8% |
| Penalty Kill | 83.4% | 77.8% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Ivan Lodnia (C) | Nick Grima (D) |
| Adam Ruzicka (C) | ||
| Ryan McGregor (LW) | ||
| Aidan Hughes (G) |
Prediction: Erie in 4 games
(2) Soo Greyhounds vs (7) Flint Firebirds
| Soo Greyhounds | Flint Firebirds | |
| Overall Record | 48-16-3-1 | 32-28-3-5 |
| Last 10 games | 8-1-1-0 | 3-4-2-1 |
| Head-to-Head | 3-1-1-1 | 3-3-0-0 |
| Home Record | 22-9-2-1 | 19-11-2-2 |
| Away Record | 26-7-1-0 | 13-17-1-3 |
| Goals For | 287 | 229 |
| Goals Against | 208 | 242 |
| Powerplay | 18.4% | 14.5% |
| Penalty Kill | 84.2% | 79.9% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Matthew Villalta (G) | Fedor Gordeev (D) |
| Conor Timmins (D) | C.J. Clarke (RW) | |
| Anthony DeMeo (D) | ||
| Morgan Frost (C) |
Prediction: Soo Greyhounds in 5 games
(3) Owen Sound Attack vs (6) Kitchener Rangers
| Owen Sound | Kitchener Rangers | |
| Overall Record | 49-15-2-2 | 36-27-3-2 |
| Last 10 games | 9-0-1-0 | 5-4-1-0 |
| Head-to-Head | 7-1-0-0 | 1-7-0-0 |
| Home Record | 27-4-1-2 | 20-11-2-1 |
| Away Record | 22-11-1-0 | 16-16-1-1 |
| Goals For | 297 | 244 |
| Goals Against | 177 | 251 |
| Powerplay | 28.6% | 21.7% |
| Penalty Kill | 83.4% | 77.5% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Sean Durzi (D) | Elijah Roberts (D) |
| Markus Phillips (D) | Joseph Garreffa (RW) | |
| Zachary Roberts (LW) | Nick McHugh (LW) | |
| Jonah Gadjovich (LW) | Dylan Seitz (C) | |
| Maksim Sushko (RW) | Greg Meireles (RW) | |
| Nick Suzuki (C) |
Prediction: Owen Sound in 5 games
(4) London Knights vs (5) Windsor Spitfires
| London | Windsor | |
| Overall Record | 46-15-3-4 | 41-19-5-3 |
| Last 10 games | 7-3-0-0 | 5-5-0-0 |
| Head-to-Head | 3-2-1-0 | 3-2-1-0 |
| Home Record | 25-5-1-3 | 27-6-1-0 |
| Away Record | 21-10-2-1 | 14-13-4-3 |
| Goals For | 289 | 232 |
| Goals Against | 194 | 185 |
| Powerplay | 26.4% | 22.9% |
| Penalty Kill | 81.0% | 88.5% |
| Draft Eligible Players | Robert Thomas (C) | Gabriel Vilardi (C) |
| Alex Forementon (LW) | Michael DiPietro (G) |
Prediction: London in 7 games
*Note: As hosts of the 2017 Memorial Cup, Windsor would move on to the tournament.
Hey Dominic – just a quick note. Most articles I come across tend to miss that Troy Timpano is in his second year of Draft Eligibility. He was a late ’97 birth.
Enjoyed reading your work over the years.
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You are correct Steve. I usually only do first time eligible and should have included Troy as I did Stephen Dhillon. Thanks for bringing it up and for your kind words.
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