Western Conference Preview can be found here.
(1) Ottawa 67’s vs (8) Oshawa Generals
From the drop of the first puck, the Ottawa 67’s have been the OHL’s best team while the Oshawa Generals didn’t qualify for the playoffs until the final weekend. Ottawa would finish a measly 49 points ahead of Oshawa. The 67’s would finish 4th in goals scored, the Generals 14th. The 67’s would finish 1st in goals against, the Generals 18th.
However, the Generals have the league’s third best powerplay versus seventh best for Ottawa. That powerplay will be in tough against Ottawa’s second-best penalty kill. Oshawa is tenth-best.
Ottawa is led by Logan Morrison (free agent) who was acquired on trade deadline with 94 points. They also acquired star defenceman Pavel Mintyukov (Anaheim Ducks) who has 88 points. They have 7 twenty goal (or more) scorers on their roster and 3 more with 19 goals each.
Oshawa is led by veteran Ryan Gagnier (free agent) with 69 points, Stuart Rolofs (free agent) with 61 points and Calum Ritchie (draft eligible) with 55 points.
Prediction: Ottawa in 4 games.
| Ottawa 67’s | Oshawa Generals | |
| Regular season record | 51-12-3-2 | 26-36-1-5 |
| Head-to-head | 7-0-1-0 | 1-5-0-2 |
| Home record | 29-4-0-1 | 14-17-1-2 |
| Away record | 22-8-3-1 | 12-19-0-3 |
| Goals scored | 286 | 235 |
| Goals against | 171 | 290 |
| Powerplay overall | 23.8% | 25.6% |
| Powerplay at home | 26.1% | 25.6% |
| Powerplay away | 21.0% | 25.5% |
| Penalty kill overall | 84.1% | 78.0% |
| Penalty kill at home | 84.8% | 78.0% |
| Penalty kill away | 83.3% | 78.0% |
| Powerplay vs opponent | 41.9% | 28.6% |
| Penalty kill vs opponent | 71.4% | 58.1% |
| Leading after 1st | 26-3-2-0 | 13-5-0-2 |
| Leading after 2nd | 41-0-0-0 | 20-2-0-2 |
| Trailing after 1st | 7-8-1-1 | 4-22-0-1 |
| Trailing after 2nd | 2-12-1-1 | 2-30-1-2 |
| 1-goal games | 13-2-3-2 | 11-8-1-5 |
| 2-goal games | 9-5-0-0 | 4-8-0-0 |
| 3 goal games | 12-4-0-0 | 6-7-0-0 |
Prediction: Ottawa in 4 games
(2) North Bay Battalion vs (7) Mississauga Steelheads
| North Bay Battalion | Mississauga Steelheads | |
| Regular season record | 48-17-2-1 | 31-31-6-0 |
| Head-to-head | 4-2-0-0 | 2-4-0-0 |
| Home record | 27-5-1-1 | 18-14-2-0 |
| Away record | 21-12-1-0 | 13-17-4-0 |
| Goals scored | 285 | 226 |
| Goals against | 183 | 258 |
| Powerplay overall | 22.9% | 19.9% |
| Powerplay at home | 25.0% | 21..3% |
| Powerplay away | 20.9% | 18.0% |
| Penalty kill overall | 87.1% | 72.5% |
| Penalty kill at home | 90.3% | 72.5% |
| Penalty kill away | 86.4% | 72.4% |
| Powerplay vs opponent | 27.6% | 13.6% |
| Penalty kill vs opponent | 84.4% | 73.9% |
| Leading after 1st | 29-0-0-1 | 12-1-1-0 |
| Leading after 2nd | 37-1-0-1 | 20-2-2-0 |
| Trailing after 1st | 8-13-1-0 | 6-18-3-0 |
| Trailing after 2nd | 2-16-0-0 | 4-22-3-0 |
| 1-goal games | 9-5-2-1 | 19-6-6-0 |
| 2-goal games | 10-6-0-0 | 2-6-0-0 |
| 3 goal games | 12-4-0-0 | 4-7-0-0 |
North Bay has the OHL’s 9th best powerplay versus 16th best for Mississauga. To make matters worse for Mississauga, North Bay has the league’s best penalty kill versus the league’s worst for the Steelheads. Head-to-head, the two teams are closer than one might have expected.
This series puts North Bay’s 5th best offence against Mississauga’s 11th best defence and Mississauga’s 16th best offence against the league’s 2nd best defence.
North Bay is led by Matvey Petrov (Edmonton Oilers) with 93 points, Kyle Jackson and Ty Nelson (Seattle Kraken) with 83 and 76 points respectively. Mississauga is led by James Hardie (free agent) with 82 points, Zander Veccia (draft eligible) with 45 points and Luke Misa (2024 draft) with 43 points.
Prediction: North Bay in 4 games.
(3) Barrie Colts vs (6) Hamilton Bulldogs
| Barrie Colts | Hamilton Bulldogs | |
| Regular season record | 42-17-6-3 | 33-30-5-0 |
| Head-to-head | 2-2-0-0 | 2-2-0-0 |
| Home record | 21-9-3-1 | 16-16-2-0 |
| Away record | 21-8-3-2 | 17-14-3-0 |
| Goals scored | 284 | 226 |
| Goals against | 239 | 251 |
| Powerplay overall | 25.3% | 20.7% |
| Powerplay at home | 28.3% | 19.3% |
| Powerplay away | 22.3% | 21.9% |
| Penalty kill overall | 81.6% | 77.3% |
| Penalty kill at home | 84.2% | 78.0% |
| Penalty kill away | 78.9% | 76.7% |
| Powerplay vs opponent | 27.3% | 37.5% |
| Penalty kill vs opponent | 62.5% | 72.7% |
| Leading after 1st | 21-5-1-0 | 13-3-2-0 |
| Leading after 2nd | 25-2-2-1 | 20-1-0-0 |
| Trailing after 1st | 11-8-4-1 | 6-22-2-0 |
| Trailing after 2nd | 9-13-2-2 | 2-28-2-0 |
| 1-goal games | 17-4-6-3 | 12-4-5-0 |
| 2-goal games | 7-3-0-0 | 11-9-0-0 |
| 3 goal games | 10-5-0-0 | 5-8-0-0 |
The Colts have the leagues 4th best powerplay and penalty kill while Hamilton has the 13th best penalty kill and powerplay. Now that’s consistency, right? And they split the season series so this one has got to be close again, right?
Barrie has the 6th most potent offence while Hamilton is 15th. Barrie also boasts the 6th best defence while Hamilton 9th.
Barrie is led by Evan Vierling (drafted New York Rangers but unsigned and is now a free agent) with 95 points, Ethan Cardwell (San Jose Sharks) with 90 points and Jacob Frasca (free agent) with 69 points. Hamilton is led by Sahil Panwar (free agent) with 69 points, Nick Lardis (draft eligible) with 65 points and Patrick Thomas (draft eligible) with 56 points.
Prediction: Barrie in 5 games.
(4) Peterborough Petes vs (5) Sudbury Wolves
| Peterborough Petes | Sudbury Wolves | |
| Regular season record | 35-29-2-2 | 31-28-6-3 |
| Head-to-head | 1-2-1-0 | 3-1-0-0 |
| Home record | 18-13-1-2 | 18-11-3-2 |
| Away record | 17-16-1-0 | 13-17-3-1 |
| Goals scored | 247 | 272 |
| Goals against | 207 | 260 |
| Powerplay overall | 21.7% | 17.0% |
| Powerplay at home | 22.1% | 15.9% |
| Powerplay away | 21.3% | 18.1% |
| Penalty kill overall | 81.3% | 75.3% |
| Penalty kill at home | 80.2% | 77.7% |
| Penalty kill away | 82.4% | 73.3% |
| Powerplay vs opponent | 21.7% | 17.6% |
| Penalty kill vs opponent | 82.4% | 78.3% |
| Leading after 1st | 7-11-0-1 | 21-7-2-2 |
| Leading after 2nd | 31-4-1-0 | 26-4-2-1 |
| Trailing after 1st | 5-10-1-1 | 5-11-2-0 |
| Trailing after 2nd | 1-18-1-0 | 4-19-2-0 |
| 1-goal games | 6-6-2-2 | 9-10-6-3 |
| 2-goal games | 8-14-0-0 | 7-4-0-0 |
| 3 goal games | 7-7-0-0 | 5-5-0-0 |
If this comes down to specialty teams then the Wolves may be in trouble. Peterborough has the 9th best powerplay in the league and the 6th best penalty kill. Sudbury has the leagues worst penalty kill and 3rd worst powerplay.
If specialty teams aren’t the difference then you put Sudbury’s 7th best offence against Peterborough’s 3rd best defence. And Sudbury’s 12th best defence would face Peterborough’s 12th best offence.
Sudbury is led by David Goyette (Seattle Kraken) with 92 points, Quentin Musty (draft eligible) with 78 points and Landon McCallum (free agent) with 66 points. Peterborough is led by Tucker Robertson (Seattle Kraken) with 90 points, Connor Lockhart (Vancouver Canucks) with 79 points and Avery Hayes Free agent) with 77 points.
Flip a coin on this one.
Prediction: Sudbury in 6 games.
OHL Writers 