OHL Western world war
There is no question that among the eight teams that will make the playoffs in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League, five of them are not just good — they are very good. Which means that looking ahead, at least one of the Kitchener Rangers, Windsor Spitfires, Flint Firebirds, Soo Greyhounds or London Knights will definitely be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
And after that — barring a first round upset by a much lower seeded playoff team — two more really good hockey clubs will be gone after the second round, leaving two finalists for the Western Conference title.
Think about it. At least one team from the above bracket of contenders will be gone after the first round and at least two more will be done for the season after the second.
Which, for legitimate contending teams like Kitchener, Windsor, Flint and the Soo — who all loaded up ahead of the January 9 trade deadline by dealing away a good chunk of the future for a shot at championship glory — will really suck. (Among the Western Conference elite, only London dealt away star power. But — of course, go figure as we are talking London — the Knights are somehow still right in the mix with the Rangers, Spitfires, Firebirds and Greyhounds.)
One can’t blame the general managers from the top four Western Conference contenders — Mike McKenzie of Kitchener, Billy Bowler of Windsor, Dave McParlan of Flint and Kyle Raftis of the Soo — for the many moves that they made ahead of the OHL trade deadline.
When a team is considered to be a serious title contender, the onus is on ownership and management to take a deep shot. And that is exactly what McKenzie, Bowler, McParlan and Raftis as general managers all did. But what really, really sucks is that major disappointment is ahead for fans and supporters of at least a couple of the aforementioned Western Conference contending teams.
Who to like? That is a loaded question.
— Kitchener is dangerous — especially after adding world class forward Sam O’Reilly from London at the trade deadline.
— I liked Windsor a lot prior to the start of this season and I like them even more now since the Spitfires added grit, grind and skill in forward Nathan Villeneuve and a defenseman with a world junior resume in Jacob Fibigr at the trade deadline.
— I also liked Flint before the season began and I really like what the Firebirds added going forward with acquisitions such as forwards Kevin He and Jacob Battaglia.
— As for the Greyhounds, they swung for the fence — and hit the ball out of the park — by acquiring stalwart defenseman Lukas Fischer and ace goalie Carter George. With all due respect to all other puck stoppers out there, the Greyhounds probably have the league’s best in George, the Team Canada bronze medal winning goalie and second round National Hockey League draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, who can also score on occasion.
— And um, let us not forget about London. Can we really ever count out a team that is coached by Dale Hunter? No, we can’t. Whichever one of Kitchener, Windsor, Flint or the Soo that draws London in the first round of the playoffs will not be sleeping well or breathing easy.
Who to really like? That is an even tougher question.
When Windsor is in sync, it is a team that I like a lot. Same with Flint.
Meanwhile, if there is a goalie who can win a game on his own, we go back to Carter George of the Greyhounds. But can he steal an entire series? That would not surprise me at all.
The high stakes playoffs of the OHL’s Western Conference are a matter of six weeks or so away.
photos by Bob Davies
