The Niagara IceDogs it is.
The first-round playoff opponent for the Barrie Colts came into clear focus on Wednesday following a 4-2 road loss to the Kingston Frontenacs at Slush Puppie Place.
Combined with Brantford’s 5-2 win over Niagara last night, the matchups are now all set for the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The second-seeded Colts will host Niagara in a best-of-seven series, slated to begin next Thursday night at Sadlon Arena.
“Now, we can really spend a lot of time getting ready for Niagara. Start to jump the gun a little bit on the pre-scout for them,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz, who rested four regulars in the loss to Kingston. “We’ll play out these last two games, take one day off Sunday, and then hit these guys hard with a bunch of video and a bunch of conversation regarding Niagara.”
With the win over the IceDogs, the Bulldogs earned a first-round date with Sudbury, while clinching first place and home ice throughout the conference playoffs.
Kingston will face Ottawa for the first time since 1981, while the other series will see Peterborough take on North Bay. The fourth seed and home-ice advantage in that series have not yet been determined.
This marks the second straight year the Colts will face their Central Division rivals in the opening round of the playoffs. Last year, Barrie eliminated Niagara in five games.
“They’ve played us tough (this year). It’s going to be a good series,” said Smoskowitz. “We really have to spend our time and do our due diligence getting prepared for them. Our guys are going to be very bought-in, very excited, so I’m looking forward to a good week of preparation. It’s always fun as a coaching staff to really dive into one team.”
The Colts are back on the road Thursday to take on Peterborough, before wrapping up their regular season schedule at home Saturday against the IceDogs.
While the game will mean nothing in the standings, Calvin Crombie won’t be looking at it that way at all.
“That’s going to be a big one,” said the Colts' overage forward. “That’s going to set the tempo for us. We want to come out and show them everything we’ve got. We’ve been pretty good against them, so far this season.
“I know Barrie played them last year as well, so it’s a rivalry for sure. We want to come out and bring our best and do our thing.”
Riley Clark, Kieren Dervin, Alex McLean, on the power play, and Jack Dever, into an empty net, scored for Kingston (33-28-3-2), which scored three straight to rally from a one-goal deficit for its sixth-straight win.
Emil Hemming and Cole Beaudoin scored on setups by Ben Wilmott for Barrie (45-14-3-4), which gave a day off to regulars Parker von Richter, Gabriel Eliasson, Brad Gardiner, and Mason Zebeski.
The Colts had already secured the second seed as the Central Division champions, while the Frontenacs were aiming to lock in the sixth seed.
While there wasn’t a lot at stake for Barrie heading into this one, that was no excuse for Crombie.
“We’re a bunch of competitors, so every day we fight, every day we battle,” said the veteran. “We had some guys out of the lineup tonight, some key factors, but at the end of the day, we want the win, and we want the two points. It doesn’t really matter if it helps us in the standings or not.
“We want the two points, and we want to be competitors with everyone at the end of the day, no matter whether it’s a Game 7 or a nothing game.”
Smoskowitz gave credit to a hungry Frontenacs team for their effort in this one.
“They had something to play for, and they played well tonight,” he said. “It’s good to see (our) guys not get hurt, first and foremost.”
The changes allowed Smoskowitz to insert some of his young players into the lineup, while others, such as rookie forward Eamon Edgar, received way more ice time and a bigger role.
“(It’s key) for these guys to get some more touches in, and be more game shape ready, because you never know who gets called upon in the playoffs,” said Smoskowitz of rookies like Aleksandr Sementsov, Teague Vader, and Ethan Armstrong. “For these guys to get their reps in leading into the playoffs, it gives us a chance to rest some guys and give some guys an off day today. It’s what you work for.
“You work all season to be put in a situation where you don’t have to go down to Game 68, running all your guys, and playing big minutes. Kudos to our group for putting in a good season, allowing us the opportunity to rest some guys.”
Sementsov played just his fourth OHL game. The Colts’ bench boss was happy with the play of Barrie’s 18th-overall pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection.
The winger got into 42 games this season with the Newmarket Hurricanes and will be one of Barrie’s Black Aces heading into the playoffs.
“He’s naturally a confident kid,” said Smoskowitz of Sementsov. “He walks into a room, and there’s nothing that will intimidate that guy, even though he’s not the biggest guy or the strongest guy. He doesn’t back down from anybody. I was very impressed tonight with his tenacity hunting the puck. I was very impressed when he tried to finish some checks on bigger guys.
“He actually hasn’t played a game in almost a month now back with his junior team, so for him to get a game in here and not really miss a beat with us was a really positive sign.”
UP NEXT
The Colts will also make some major changes to the lineup Thursday in Peterborough. Gardiner, Eliasson, and Zebeski will return to the lineup, while von Richter will sit once again.
Kashawn Aitcheson, Wilmott, Beaudoin, and Hemming will also be given a breather.
“[von Richter] could really use an extra day of rest,” said Smoskowitz. “Coming over from Brampton, he played some big minutes there and played some big minutes with us, so probably Parker and Aitcheson will sit out tomorrow.
“Beaudoin, Hemming, and Wilmott have put in some good shifts for us lately, so they’ll probably sit out (Thursday). We’ll get (Arvin) Jaswal to start in goal. Just try to get everyone fresh and feeling good going into the playoffs.”
ICE CHIPS
Beaudoin also added an assist to his 33rd goal and now sits sixth in OHL scoring with 86 points in 53 games.
Ben Hrebik stopped 26 of 29 shots for Barrie, while Gavin Betts made 18 saves to pick up the win for Kingston.
Hemming had a second goal early in the third period waved off on an offside call.
Hrebik turned away Alex Misiak on a penalty shot early in the first period.
ADD. OHL
Ottawa 6 Oshawa 1
London 6 Guelph 2
Brantford 5 Niagara 2
Owen Sound 4 Flint 3
Saginaw 4 Soo 3
Sarnia 6 Erie 3
