Western Conference Championship Series Preview
It’s a Highway-402 rivalry matchup in the Western Conference Championship Series as the London Knights and Sarnia Sting face-off starting this Friday night at Budweiser Gardens.
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(2) London Knights (45-21-2-0) vs. (3) Sarnia Sting (41-18-5-4) – #LDNvsSAR
Believe it or not, this is just the second time in almost 30 years that the London Knights and Sarnia Sting, storied 402 rivals, have met in the OHL Playoffs.
It’s a historic year for the Sting, who are into the Western Conference Championship Series for the first time in their history.
Sarnia comes off a sweep of the fourth-seed Saginaw Spirit in which they conceded just four goals, with Ben Gaudreau making franchise history with his second and third shutouts of the playoff run. After going up 2-0 over the eighth-placed Kitchener Rangers in the previous round, the Knights responded to a 6-1 Game 3 loss with consecutive Brett Brochu shutout wins in Games 4 and 5.
Following a spell in which they won the J. Ross Robertson Cup three times in five seasons, London has not reached the Western Conference Final since their last championship in 2016.
Londoner George Diaco‘s co-captain, fellow overage forward Sean McGurn, led the team with 27 goals and 56 assists during the regular season. The veteran centreman told the press about his opportunity to help lead the Knights to a return to glory.
“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet because we’re just so focused on the job at hand, but we do catch ourselves talking about how special it is to be playing the Western finals,” he said.
“And they just painted the Wayne Gretzky trophy on the ice: that was pretty cool.”
The Knights’ season was kickstarted two games in when they acquired the aforementioned Diaco from the Bulldogs. Coming off an OHL championship in Hamilton last spring, Diaco finished second in team scoring with 26 goals and 46 assists in 64 games.
After adding 11 more points in eight postseason contests, Diaco spoke candidly about being the co-captain of his hometown team and playing for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy.
“It’s pretty hard to put in words actually,” he explained.
“I’ve been watching this organization my whole life and seeing the success they had and all the trophies they’ve won. I’m just proud to be on this team.”
There was plenty of changeover in London this season, with 17-year-old newcomers Easton Cowan, Jacob Julien, Oliver Bonk, and Zach Bowen, as well as 2022 fourth-overall pick Sam Dickinson playing big roles.
The team began to find a rhythm after adding Diaco’s Bulldogs teammates Ryan Winterton and Ryan Humphrey at the trade deadline. According to head coach Dale Hunter, the key to the Knights’ success has been the chemistry they’ve built.
“They take care of each other,” he said.
“They’re a close-knit group here and they enjoy being on the ice, enjoy playing the games and being under this kind of pressure.”
The Sting boast a powerhouse offence but showed an ability to grind out results in the series against Saginaw. Their defensive trade-deadline acquisitions were a subject of discussion ahead of Game 1.
“When we made the moves to get those two guys, we addressed a small need: having another guy that could run our power play in [Christian] Kyrou – he just brings us that ability to move pucks out of our zone quickly. Ethan [Del Mastro] comes in with the character, he has the ability, he’s won two gold medals, and he can settle the game down just with his poise,” said Sarnia head coach Alan Letang.
The Sting’s blueline spent much of the season riddled with injuries but with Del Mastro, Kyrou, Ryan Mast, Nolan Dillingham, and Ethan Ritchie all available, Sarnia’s defence has looked steady in front of Gaudreau.
“We’ve got that depth on the back end – we’re so versatile that we can mix [defence pairs] together, they can play with each other, they’re comfortable in all situations, and I think that’s been our been our biggest asset on the back end,” added Letang.
Not to be overlooked, Sarnia’s offence was a force throughout the season as they put together the OHL’s top power play, guided by one of the league’s top playmakers in Ty Voit. Factor in 50-goal scorer Nolan Burke and mid-season additions Sasha Pastujov and Luca Del Bel Belluz, and Sarnia isn’t a team London can afford to get into penalty trouble against.
We’ll see how it plays out, but all signs point to a lengthy series between these two closely-matched rivals.
Season Series:
London wins 4-2-0-0
Dec. 30 – LDN 7 at SAR 5
Dec. 31 – SAR 1 at LDN 4
Feb. 17 – SAR 3 at LDN 2
Feb. 18 – LDN 4 at SAR 3 OT
Feb. 24 – SAR 3 at LDN 4 SO
Mar. 3 – LDN 1 at SAR 6
Playoff History:
This will be London and Sarnia’s second time meeting in the OHL Playoffs.
– 1999 LDN def. SAR 4-2 – 1st Round
Series Schedule:
Game 1 – Friday, April 28 at London, 7:00pm
Game 2 – Sunday, April 30 at London, 2:00pm
Game 3 – Tuesday, May 2 at Sarnia, 7:05pm
Game 4 – Wednesday, May 3 at Sarnia, 7:05pm
Game 5 – Friday, May 5 at London, 7:00pm*
Game 6 – Sunday, May 7 at Sarnia, 2:05pm*
Game 7 – Monday, May 8 at London, 7:00pm*
*if necessary
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