How sweep it is

Like spring cleaning, there have been multiple sweeps through the first round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.

In the Western Conference alone, no. 1 seed London Knights, no. 2 seed Saginaw Spirit and no. 4 seed Guelph Storm all took the broom to their opponents.

London took the measure of no. 8 seed Windsor Spitfires, Saginaw swept aside the no. 7 seed Sarnia Sting and Guelph blew away the no. 5 seed Kitchener Rangers.

London will face Guelph in one Western Conference semi-final set while Saginaw will take on the winner of the Soo Greyhounds v. Owen Sound Attack series. The no. 3 seed Greyhounds lead the no. 6 seed Attack three games to one and can finish off the series with a home-ice win tonight.

Of note, the series win by Saginaw was its first since 2012.

Meanwhile, in the Eastern Conference, both the no. 1 seed Ottawa 67s and no. 4 seed Sudbury Wolves have advanced to the semi-finals via opening-round sweeps.

Ottawa ousted reigning champion Hamilton with a one-sided sweep of the no. 8 seed Bulldogs while no. 4 seed Sudbury swept past the no. 5 seed Mississauga Steelheads.

The series win for Sudbury was the first by the Wolves since 2013.

Meanwhile, no. 2 seed Niagara IceDogs lead no. 7 seed North Bay Battalion three games to one and no. 3 seed Oshawa Generals hold a similar advantage over no. 6 seed Peterborough Petes.