989-word playoff preview
Make no mistake about it. Flint Firebirds stand out as one of the more-improved teams in the Ontario Hockey League from the 2015-2016 season to the 2016-2017 campaign.
But while Flint finished a solid seventh in the Western Conference during the regular season with 72 points from a record of 32-28-8, the Firebirds face a formidable first-round playoff opponent in the second-seeded Soo Greyhounds, who hit the 100-point mark with a record of 48-16-4.
Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven, opening-round playoff series are slated for the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday and Saturday of this week. The series will then shift to Flint for Games 3 and 4 on Monday March 27 and Wednesday March 29.
FIREBIRDS
It has been a tidy turnaround term for the Firebirds, who had 46 points from a lowly record of 20-42-6 while missing the Western Conference playoffs in 2015-2016 after relocating to Flint from Plymouth where they were known as the Whalers.
The planner of the Flint rebuild has been first-year Firebirds general manager George Burnett, who has brought his winning ways of 20 prior OHL seasons to Flint.
Focusing solely as the GM in Flint — he has 636 career regular-season wins as a coach, which is the sixth-most in OHL history — Burnett managed to move unhappy players and parlay excess draft picks to bring in major contributors to this edition of the Firebirds.
Key acquisitions made by Burnett since the beginning of the season include forwards Kole Sherwood (London Knights), Maurizio Colella (North Bay Battalion) and Everett Clark (Mississauga Steelheads) and defensemen Jalen Smereck (Oshawa Generals.)
And with no depth in goal, Burnett had to trade for two net-minders, bringing in veteran Connor Hicks from the Hamilton Bulldogs and 19-year old rookie Garrett Forrest from North Bay.
Hicks and Forrest put up so-so numbers during the regular season. Hicks had an 18-13-4 record to go with a 3.21 goals against average and .886 save percentage while Forrest had 13-14-4, 3.51 and .889 stats.
The Firebirds are not without veteran point-getters on the forward lines.
Holdover forward Ryan Moore led the Firebirds in scoring with a spectacular 90-point season that included 39 goals. Another returning forward, Nick Caamano finished third in team scoring with 35 goals, 29 assists, 64 points. And the aforementioned Sherwood scored 33 goals while Colella chipped in with 18 and Clark added 16.
Meanwhile, overage defensemen Mathieu Henderson and Alex Peters made their second season in Flint productive ones. Henderson was fourth on the team in scoring with 10 goals, 44 assists, 54 points while captain Peters chipped in with 10-25-35 totals.
A few words about the trio of veteran defensemen — Henderson, Smereck and Peters. Combined, the blue line boys totaled 29 goals, 105 assists, 134 points for the Firebirds during the regular season.
The Firebirds, while cast as decided underdogs in the series with the Hounds, did split the six regular-season games with the Soo. Ironically, the visiting team won all six games.
Firebirds rookie head coach Ryan Oulahen — who turns 32-years old in a few days and is considered by many to be a rising star in the OHL coaching ranks — knows the challenge that lies ahead in the playoff series with the Greyhounds.
Oulahen and assistant coaches Eric Wellwood and Scott MacDonald used the final few games of the regular season — after the Firebirds had clinched a playoff spot — to prepare for the dance.
“We didn’t worry about winning as much as we tried to use the games to work on our fundamentals and practise our systems while playing against top teams like Owen Sound, Windsor and London, who we played twice. We didn’t win but we were right there with some of the best of the best,” Oulahen told me.
“And speaking of the best of the best, that’s where the Greyhounds stand,” Oulahen continued. “It’s going to be a tough task for us playing a team like the Greyhounds who are well-coached and well-prepared with three unbelievable lines.
“But we have a good group that plays well together,” Oulahen added. “We have a good leadership group and aside from (injured forward) Luke Kirwan we are relatively healthy. We need to try to stay even-keeled and trust the process.”
GREYHOUNDS
The high-powered Hounds won a league-high 26 road games during the regular season and head into the series with Flint healthy and with an eye on the prize in what is a tough, tough Western Conference.
The Hounds are a dangerous offensive team with seven players who scored between 20 and 42 goals and another — captain Blake Speers — who tallied 15 times in just 30 games.
Zachary Senyshyn led the Greyhound goal-scoring gang with 42 followed by Boris Katchouk with 35, Tim Gettinger with 31, Jack Kopacka with 30, Bobby MacIntyre with 28, David Miller with 22 and Morgan Frost with 20.
And as Flint has its trio of defensemen who put up points, so does the Soo.
Conor Timmins rang up 7 goals, 54 assists, 61 points while Gustav Bouramman posted 2-34-36 totals and and Colton White had 6-25-31 numbers.
Between the pipes, walk-on rookie Matthew Villalta had better stats than veteran Joseph Raaymakers over the course of the season.
Villalta had a record of 25-3-0 to go with a 2.41 goals against average and .918 save percentage while Raaymakers was 23-13-4, 3.38 and .889.
OUTLOOK
The Greyhounds scored 287 goals during the regular season and allowed 208.
The Firebirds scored 229 goals during the regular season and allowed 242.
Both teams are well-coached though the Soo duo of Drew Bannister and Joe Cirella has more combined experience.
Not that coaching is likely to decide this series.
What stands out is that the Greyhounds have seven players with 20 or more goals, including one with 40, three with 30 and Speers with his 15 tallies in 30 games.
The Firebirds, on the other hand, have three 30-goal scorers but no other player with as many as 20.
Thumbs up to the Flint staff and players for making sizeable strides from last season to this.
But the Greyhounds have more scoring depth on the forward lines and were 28 points better than the Firebirds during the regular season.
While some are calling for a Greyhound sweep, I think the Firebirds will keep the games close and win one or two.
Hounds in 4. Would be very surprised if the Hounds don’t sweep.