Second Round Eastern Conference Playoff Preview

By Aaron Bell

The second round OHL playoff matchups are set. In the Eastern Conference, the Belleville Bulls will face the Niagara IceDogs while the Brampton Battalion and Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors will hold a battle of Peel Region. Both series open on Thursday.

Belleville Bulls (1) vs. Niagara IceDogs (6)

Head to Head: Belleville won the season series 4-0 with one win coming in a shootout. Belleville won the most recent matchup 4-1 on February 19. Belleville finished first in the Eastern Conference with a 47-17-2-2 record and beat the Sudbury Wolves in six games in their opening round playoff series. The IceDogs were 26-31-5-6 and finished sixth in the Eastern Conference. They were the only team to score a first round playoff upset when they eliminated the Ottawa 67’s in overtime in Game 7 on Tuesday in Ottawa.

Top Scorers: Captain Eric Tangradi (4-4-8) was the Bulls’ top scorer in the regular season and continued that trend through the first round. Veterans Luke Pither (1-7-8) and Bryan Cameron (3-2-5) are also scoring. Alex Friesen (2-7-9) was the IceDogs’ top scorer while Andrew Agozzino (4-4-8) was the overtime hero on Tuesday. Marco Insam (4-4-8) had a pair of game-winners against Ottawa.

In the Nets: Mike Murphy (4-2, 1.83, .934) is the reigning goalie of the year and other than a letdown in Game 5 against Sudbury, he has been sensational. Jeremy Smith (4-3, 3.86, .908) was picked up for veteran stability and has been just that so far.

Special Teams: The Bulls struggled on the powerplay in the first few games against Sudbury but found their touch again later and are at a 12.5 per cent efficiency. They were 86.5 per cent on the penalty kill. The IceDogs were effective with the man-advantage in the first round, operating at 21.9 per cent while killing off 75 per cent of their penalties.

Outlook: After going seven games in the OHL finals and then playing in the MasterCard Memorial Cup last fall, the Bulls are anxious to have another extended playoff run this year while the IceDogs’ Game 7 overtime thriller against the Ottawa 67’s made them the only upset winners of the first round of the playoffs.

Schedule:
Game 1 – Thu Apr 2 7:15 at Belleville
Game 2 – Fri Apr 3 7:30 at Niagara
Game 3 – Sun Apr 5 7:15 at Belleville
Game 4 – Tue Apr 7 7:30 at Niagara
Game 5 – Thu Apr 9 7:15 at Belleville *
Game 6 – Fri Apr 10 7:30 at Niagara *
Game 7 – Sun Apr 12 7:15 at Belleville *

Brampton Battalion (2) vs. Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (4)

Head to Head: Brampton won the season series 7-1-0-0 with one win coming in overtime and another coming in a shootout. Mississauga scored their lone win in a 4-1 victory on March 6 while Brampton skated to a 5-2 win in their final meeting of the season on March 8. Brampton finished the regular season with a 47-19-1-1 record and defeated the Peterborough Petes in four games in the opening round. The Majors were fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 39-26-1-2 record and knocked off the Barrie Colts in five games in the first round.

Top Scorers: Cody Hodgson (3-8-11) was one of the top junior players in the world during the regular season and kept up that pace in the first round of the playoffs in leading the Battalion with 11 points. All three of his goals came in one game. Matt Duchene (4-4-8) had a pair of game winners in the first round and Evgeny Grachev (4-4-8) maintained their scoring consistency. Meanwhile, Majors’ defenceman Cameron Gaunce (3-6-9) continues to be one of the club’s offensive leaders. Veterans Jared Gomes (3-5-8) and Michael Pelech (2-5-7) also chipped in up front.

In the Nets: Thomas McCollum (4-0, 2.49, .907) came to Guelph in January with the expectation that he could provide the netminding needed to compete for a championship. Rookie JP Anderson (4-1, 2.22, .934) took the reins after a shaky start by Chris Carrozzi (0-0, 14.30, .625).

Special Teams: The Battalion had the top rated powerplay in the first round operating at a 36. 4 per cent efficiency while killing off 88.2 per cent of their powerplays against the Petes. The Majors were 22.2 per cent on the powerplay and had an impressive 92.3 penalty killing rate against Barrie.

Outlook: Neither team will be able to complain about the travel schedule with just a quick trip on Kennedy Road separating the two arenas. The Battalion are loaded with star power up front that carried them through the first round while the Majors spread their scoring around a bit more and have become a dangerous bunch over the past several weeks.

Schedule:
Game 1 – Thu Apr 2 7:00 at Brampton
Game 2 – Fri Apr 3 7:30 at Mississauga
Game 3 – Sun Apr 5 2:00 at Brampton
Game 4 – Tue Apr 7 7:00 at Mississauga
Game 5 – Thu Apr 9 7:00 at Brampton *
Game 6 – Fri Apr 10 7:30 at Mississauga *
Game 7 – Sun Apr 12 2:00 at Brampton *

* games if necessary