Well, it wasn’t a bad round for my predictions as I went 7 correct winners of the possible 8. Five of the seven correct came in the number of games I predicted. In fact, the one I did get incorrect: I had Hamilton defeating Kingston in 7 games, but in the end, it was Kingston that prevailed in seven games, and in overtime to boot.
Good luck to everyone trying to predict the second round. It’s a tough one. But I’ll give it a shot.
Round one predictions and results:
| Series | Prediction | Results |
| (1) Peterborough vs (8) Niagara | Peterborough in 6 | Peterborough 4-0 |
| (2) Mississauga vs (7) Ottawa | Mississauga in 5 | Mississauga 4-2 |
| (3) Oshawa vs (6) Sudbury | Oshawa in 6 | Oshawa 4-2 |
| (4) Kingston vs (5) Hamilton | Hamilton in 7 | Kingston 4-3 |
| (1) Erie vs (8) Sarnia | Erie in 4 | Erie 4-0 |
| (2) SSM vs (7) Flint | SSM in 5 | SSM 4-1 |
| (3) Owen Sound vs (6) Kitchener | Owen Sound in 5 | Owen Sound 4-1 |
| (4) London vs (5) Windsor | London in 7 | London 4-3 |
Round Two Preview
*Note: When it comes to goals for, goals against, powerplay and penalty kill percentages. I list both the regular season and the playoffs.
Eastern Conference
(1) Peterborough vs (4) Kingston
| Peterborough | Kingston | |
| Overall Record | 42-21-2-3 | 33-26-5-4 |
| Head-to-Head | 6-2-0-0 | 2-3-2-1 |
| Home Record | 24-7-2-1 | 20-9-3-2 |
| Away Record | 18-14-0-2 | 13-17-2-2 |
| Goals For | 239 – 21 | 179 – 22 |
| Goals Against | 221 – 10 | 200 – 19 |
| Powerplay | 20.7% – 26.7% | 22.1% – 11.1% |
| Penalty Kill | 80.7% – 75.0% | 78.1% – 64.3% |
| Draft Eligible Players to Watch | Cole Fraser (D) | Jacob Paquette (D) |
| Zach Gallant (C) | Eemeli Rasanen (D) | |
| Nick Isaacson (LW) | Jason Robertson (LW) | |
| Matyas Svoboda (LW) | Linus Nyman (RW) |
The Petes are very well rested after taking care of Niagara in for games while Kingston is coming off that 7 game nail-biter with Hamilton. Special teams could be huge in this series with the Petes holding a decided advantage in both the powerplay and the penalty kill.
Prediction: Peterborough in 6 games
(2) Mississauga vs (3) Oshawa
| Mississauga | Oshawa | |
| Overall Record | 34-21-6-7 | 40-23-3-2 |
| Head-to-Head | 0-2-1-1 | 4-0-0-0 |
| Home Record | 16-11-4-3 | 25-9-0-0 |
| Away Record | 18-10-2-4 | 15-14-3-2 |
| Goals For | 240 – 22 | 228 – 20 |
| Goals Against | 219 – 17 | 215 – 13 |
| Powerplay | 19.7% – 14.3% | 18.8% – 8.6% |
| Penalty Kill | 80.6% – 78.3% | 83.1% – 84.6% |
| Draft Eligible Players to Watch | Nicolas Hague (D) | Jack Studnicka (C) |
| Owen Tippett (RW) | Kyle Keyser (G) | |
| Shaw Boomhower (C) |
Both teams are coming off series victories in 6 games with Mississauga taking care of Ottawa and Oshawa beating Sudbury. The two teams are pretty evenly matched, but Oshawa is going to have to improve on their powerplay. If they can do that, they can take this series. With that said…..
Prediction: Mississauga in 7 games
Western Conference
(1) Erie vs (4) London
| Erie | London | |
| Overall Record | 50-15-2-1 | 46-15-3-4 |
| Head-to-Head | 4-2-0-0 | 2-4-0-0 |
| Home Record | 30-2-1-1 | 25-5-1-3 |
| Away Record | 20-13-1-0 | 21-10-2-1 |
| Goals For | 319 – 29 | 289 – 21 |
| Goals Against | 182 – 12 | 194 – 18 |
| Powerplay | 27.2% – 34.8% | 26.4% – 25.9% |
| Penalty Kill | 83.4% – 64.3% | 81.0% – 79.3% |
| Draft Eligible Players to Watch | Ivan Lodnia (C) | Robert Thomas (C) |
| Alex Forementon (LW) |
Another well rested team in Erie after trouncing Sarnia in 4 games going up against London who went the distance with Memorial Cup Hosts Windsor. For London, it will come down to how many games can Tyler Parsons steal and for Erie, can they get to Tyler Parsons.
Prediction: Erie in 6 games
(2) Sault Ste Marie vs (3) Owen Sound
Both teams won their opening round series in five games with the Greyhounds eliminating the Flint Firebirds and the Attack dispatching the Kitchener Rangers. These are two high powered offences (Greyhounds were 4th and the Attack 2nd in goals for) going head-to-head. However, this may come down to defence where the Attack allowed the fewest goals and goaltending. The Attack have the decided advantage in goal with Michael McNiven going up against Joseph Raaymakers or Matthew Villalta.
| Soo Greyhounds | Owen Sound | |
| Overall Record | 48-16-3-1 | 49-15-2-2 |
| Last 10 games | 8-1-1-0 | 9-0-1-0 |
| Head-to-Head | 0-2-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Home Record | 22-9-2-1 | 27-4-1-2 |
| Away Record | 26-7-1-0 | 22-11-1-0 |
| Goals For | 287 – 22 | 297 – 27 |
| Goals Against | 208 – 12 | 177 – 9 |
| Powerplay | 18.4% – 13.8% | 28.6% – 33.3% |
| Penalty Kill | 84.2% – 84.0% | 83.4% – 87.5% |
| Draft Eligible Players to Watch | Matthew Villalta (G) | Sean Durzi (D) |
| Conor Timmins (D) | Markus Phillips (D) | |
| Anthony DeMeo (D) | Zachary Roberts (LW) | |
| Morgan Frost (C) | Jonah Gadjovich (LW) | |
| Maksim Sushko (RW) | ||
| Nick Suzuki (C) |
Prediction: Owen Sound in 6 games
On a side note, I’m rooting for Oshawa, London and Sault Ste Marie, so I wouldn’t mind being wrong.
