Eastern Conference Round 2 Preview

With North Bay and Peterborough both coming back from significant holes in their round 1 playoff series, the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals are finally set. #1 Seed Oshawa will take on arch rival #6 Seed Peterborough, and #2 Seed North Bay will take on #4 Seed Barrie. The Petes upset the #3 Seed Kingston Frontenacs in round 1, although close followers of the OHL, know how well the Petes have been playing in the 2nd half of the OHL season, so the upset while impressive, wasn't exactly a huge shocker.

(1) Oshawa Generals Vs (6) Peterborough Petes

The #1 Seed Oshawa Generals are coming off a less then dominating 1st round sweep of the Mississauga Steelheads. Three of the four games in the series went into OT, which just shows how competitive the round 1 series actually was. The Generals have been the beasts of the East this season, and hold a distinct advantage in goal, on the blue line and up front in this series. However Daniel Altshuller's play in round one was shaky at best, so where even calling for back up Ken Appleby. If the Carolina Hurricanes draft pick continues his shaky play a 2nd upset for the Petes wouldn't be out of the question. However I expect Altshuller to be better in round 2. On the back end the Generals defensive zone coverage needs to drastically improve if they wanna continue their journey to the OHL Finals. The Gens d-core is for the most part a veteran d-core, that mixes a big physical style of play with swift, smooth skating d-men. The physical defenders need to keep playing their game, but must must must, stay out of the box as the Petes power play is a pretty potent one. Up front there is know denying the Generals are much deeper. The line of Latour, Laughton & Smith will likely be called upon to shut down the Petes top line of Garlent, Ritchie & Cornel, while the line of Dal Colle, Cassels & Sterk will be without a real match up and they need to take full advantage of that. Peterborough's thin forward core also takes a hit with Michael Clarke suspended for 8 games, & Josh Maguire also suspended, but for 5 games.
The 7 game series vs Kingston was a physical one, and lot of Petes players look to have bumps and bruises. The Fronts aren't even known for their physical play, so the Petes matching up with another physical team in the Generals, they could really get worn down as the series goes deeper, if it does. Andrew D'Agostini was lights out for the Petes in round 1 and he'll need to continue that play for the Petes to have a chance against the Generals. I know the Petes have been hot, and even took the last match up of the 2 squads, but the depth of the Generals will likely prevail.

My Predictions - Generals in 6


(2) North Bay Battalion vs (4) Barrie Colts

North Bay barely slipped by a very young and pesky 7th seeded Niagara Icedogs in round one. They actually trailed game 7 in the third period before Nick Paul put the Battalion ahead. Meanwhile the Colts took care of the 5th seeded Sudbury Wolves, which was some what surprising as despite the Wolves undesired play leading into the playoffs many experts expected the deep and veteran laded Wolves to pick up their game in the playoffs. That didn't happen as Barrie dominated them, dominated them without top players available throughout the series as a matter of fact. Tyson Fawcett missed 2 games, While Aaron Ekblad and Mitchell Theoret both missed one game, and trade deadline pick up Joseph Blandisi was out the entire series.
North Bay's defensive style of game will be in tough against a very deep and offensive Barrie Colts squad. Andreas Athanasiou, Zach Hall, Kevin Labanc, Brendan Lemiuex and rookie Andrew Mangiapane all had big first round series and I full expect that to continue. The Colts are team that is relentless on the forecheck, have solid specialty teams, and run through all four lines keeping them fresh throughout the game. Rookie goalie MacKenzie Blackwood looked terrific during round one, if he's able to continue his solid play I see no reason why the Colts won't be victorious in round 2, but with that being said both Blackwood and backup Gibl have had spells where neither was able to stop the puck. If the pressures of a deep playoff run get to the Colts inexperienced goalies they could find themselves on the outside looking in.
For North Bay to have any chance in this series, everything needs to go right. What I mean is goalie Jake Smith needs to be stellar and cannot let a weak goal in, as the Battalion do not have the depth offensively or the potent point producers that can dig themselves out of a hole. On that note, the Battalions top scorers need to produce. Barclay Goodrow, Nick Paul, Vincent Praplan, Ben Thomson and Alex Henriksson all need to find the back of the net more often then not in this series, for the Battalion to stay in the games as the Colts are likely to put up at least 2/3 goals a game. The Battalion defensive unit, did not look themselves in round 1, although I expect with a couple days off before round 2 starts Stan Butler will get that area of the game in order. With that all being said, Barrie looks to be the superior team despite their lower seed.

My Prediction - Barrie in 5

Looks like a Oshawa vs Barrie East Final is in the future

I agree - this could go 7 games - This is not the same team we played earlier this year

We are going to have to ramp up our game - Big time - The Petes are playing on house money and have nothing to lose

Yes they played a 7 gamer with Kingston BUT - THEY WILL STILL WANT TO UPSET THE GENS

We must be disciplined , improve our P K and power play and get better goaltending than the last series

You must improve with every playoff game starting on Friday night - You play hard all year to get home ice - must use to your advantage

GENS IN 7 - Barrie in 6

What was impressive in the Petes win was how they did it

I agree, this series definitely has the potential to go 7, I think the the first two games are really important. If Peterborough can steal one in Oshawa, it probably keeps their momentum going and likely goes 7, if they drop both I can see it being over as early as 5 games. That's my reasoning behind predicting a 6 game series.

I also agree with what the Generals need to improve on. They need to play more disciplined. Especially their veteran players, I noticed Josh Brown & Alex Lepkowski where the one's taking the majority of the penalties. I know they play a physical brand of hockey. But you can't have arguably your best to D-Men in the box. With that being said I think that's a factor as to why the PK was poor, none the less it needs to improve. I thought the power play was Ok. It generated a lot of opportunities, but Spencer Martin stood on his head. If Altshuller is not better the Petes will win this series. Mississauga was in every game and if they had a couple potent scorers like the Petes have, I feel the Steelheads definitely would have at least taken two games in the round 1 series. I'll throw in the D-Zone coverage as well. They lost a lot of 1on1 battles down low and the overall coverage just wasn't there.

I would want to know the injury and suspension situation in Peterborough. Keep in mind that the Petes got a lot of mileage out of one line. D'Agostini played his heart out and will again but I believe that the Gens are capable of getting more shots on him and Hunter Smith is a presence that the Fronts didn't have. Who is injured /can't play in Oshawa. I still believe that Daniel Altsculer can take you a long way but he needs the kind of support that D'Agostini got. GoGens.

I agree Spencer Martin was spectacular in the series and I thought he would be - A very good stand up goalie

Altshuler must control his rebounds better and cover any loose pucks and quit wondering out of net - let the DEE control the puck

I agree the GENS must break out on Friday night and dominate - they must wear down the Petes from the drop of puck - take Game 1

then it's 1 at a time - We should not take the Petes lightly after the way they battled back against Kingston


GO GENS GO

Here is some interesting stat: Both the Gen's & the Pete's played 27 games since trading deadline and both team are 16W & 11L.
And here is a ? how many player(s) on the Pete's current team Jeff Twohey is responsible for   LOOK BELOW

Go Gens GO
Gen's in 6

















 Only 1 Andrew D'Agastni 3rd in the 2009 draft