Road to the 2003 MasterCard Memorial Cup – Ontario Hockey League

The road to the 2003 MasterCard Memorial Cup begins for six teams in the Ontario Hockey League tonight as three first round series get underway. In the Eastern Conference the Brampton Battalion host the Barrie Colts in Series “B” while Series “C” gets underway in Peterborough as the Petes host the Oshawa Generals. In the Western Conference the Windsor Spitfires-London Knights series is the only one that will start up tonight as the Spitfires will host game one.

Brampton – Barrie

As the winners of the Central Division Brampton is seeded second in the Eastern Conference and they take on the Colts who finished in seventh place in the final conference standings. The Battalion finished the season with a won-lost-tied-overtime lost record of 34-21-6-4 while Barrie ended the season with a 29-26-4-9 record. At the Brampton Centre for Sports and Entertainment the Battalion had a won-lost-tied record of 20-10-4 and on the road they finished with a record of 14-18-2. The Colts played .500 hockey at the Barrie Molson Centre in 2002-03 posting a 16-16-2 record. On the road Barrie won 13 games, had 19 losses and two ties.

After missing the playoffs in 2001-02, Brampton is making its third appearance in the post season since joining the OHL in 1998-99. As for the Colts, since they joined the OHL in 1995-96, eight seasons ago, they have never not qualified for the playoffs. In 2001-02 Barrie advanced to the OHL final for the second time in franchise history where they lost in five games to the Erie Otters. The Colts won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 2000 and lost in the final of the 2000 MasterCard Memorial Cup to the Rimouski Oceanic.

Regular Season Series – Brampton/Barrie

October 3 at Barrie Brampton 3 Barrie 1

November 23 at Barrie Barrie 3 Brampton 3

December 8 at Brampton Barrie 5 Brampton 2

January 24 at Brampton Barrie 4 Brampton 3

March 1 at Barrie Barrie 3 Brampton 0

March 7 at Brampton Brampton 4 Barrie 3 OT

Peterborough – Oshawa

The Peterborough-Oshawa rivalry is one of the best and longest standing rivalries in the Canadian Hockey League. The Petes enter the series as the third seed in the Eastern Conference and the Generals are seeded sixth. Peterborough finished up the regular season with a 32-22-11-3 record as they picked up 14 points in their last ten games to finish in second place in the East Division. The Generals ended the 2002-03 season with a record of 34-30-2-2 but struggled down the stretch winning only one of their last ten games of the season. Both teams recorded winning records at home as Oshawa had a won-lost-tied record of 20-13-1 at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium while the Petes were 19-8-7 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. On the road the two teams recorded similar records as Peterborough picking up 30 points on a record of 13-17-4 and the Generals earning 29 points on the road with a road record of 14-19-1.

For Peterborough the 2003 playoffs will be the 25th year in a row that they have qualified for post season action which is the longest current streak in the OHL and the second longest streak in the CHL behind the Swift Current Broncos’ streak of 30 years.. The Generals have been to the playoffs 23 times in the past 24 years. The Petes last won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as the OHL playoff champions in 1996 while Oshawa last won the OHL playoff title in 1997.

Both the Petes and Generals will be looking to make their road to the MasterCard Memorial Cup at least one series longer as both teams exited in the first round of the 2002 playoffs. Peterborough lost in six games to the Ottawa 67’s while the Generals were eliminated by the Belleville Bulls in five games. The last time that Oshawa and Peterborough met in the playoffs was in 1999 with the Generals recording a 4-1 first round series win.

Regular Season Series – Peterborough/Oshawa

October 11 at Oshawa Oshawa 8 Peterborough 3

October 31 at Peterborough Peterborough 5 Oshawa 0

December 1 at Oshawa Peterborough 4 Oshawa 3

December 19 at Peterborough Peterborough 4 Oshawa 3

January 1 at Oshawa Peterborough 5 Oshawa 3

February 27 at Peterborough Peterborough 2 Oshawa 0

March 12 at Peterborough Peterborough 3 Oshawa 2 OT

March 16 at Oshawa Oshawa 7 Peterborough 5

Windsor – London

Another great OHL rivalry will continue in first round playoff action as the Windsor Spitfires take on the London Knights in the Western Conference. The Spitfires are seeded fourth in the Conference while London finished the regular season in the number five seed. Windsor finished eight points ahead of the Knights in the regular season standings with a record of 37-25-5-1 while London’s 2002-03 regular season record was 31-27-7-3. The Windsor Arena remains as one of the toughest buildings in the OHL for visiting teams to win in as the Spitfires had a home ice won-lost-tied record of 22-10-2. For the Knights, the 2002-03 season was their first at the John Labatt Centre and they finished the season with a home ice record of 16-14-3. Away from the friendly confines of their home arenas, London and Windsor finished with identical 15-16-3 records.

The Spitfires are making their tenth consecutive appearance in the playoffs as the last time they did not advance to post season play was in 1992-93. For the Knights this is the third year in a row that they have advanced to post season play. Last year Windsor advanced to the Western Conference final where they lost to the Erie Otters in five games while the Otters eliminated the Knights in six games in the Conference semi-finals. The Spitfires won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1988 while London is still seeking its first OHL playoff title.

The last time that the Knights and Spitfires met in the playoffs was in 1991 when Windsor won a first round series in seven games with two games being decided in overtime.

Regular Season Series – Windsor/London

October 31 at Windsor London 4 Windsor 1

November 1 at London Windsor 3 London 1

December 1 at Windsor Windsor 6 London 1

December 13 at London Windsor 3 London 2

January 23 at Windsor London 7 Windsor 2

January 24 at London Windsor 4 London 3 OT

Dave Lord – Canadian Hockey League