As the puck gets set to drop on the OHL’s Eastern Conference championship series Friday night in Barrie, Marty Williamson admits he had an inkling these two teams would be vying for the Bobby Orr Trophy.
The Colts’ general manager and head coach believes the two teams that are here – the Oshawa Generals and Barrie – are the teams that should be.
“We knew during the regular season they were all big games, and they knew the same,” said Williamson of the intense, highly contested regular season series between the two clubs where the Colts won three of four games. “If you talked to me two months ago, I would have said the best two teams are Oshawa and Barrie, and here we are in the (conference) finals.
“I think it’s going to be a heck of a series. Everybody wants to talk about their star power with some of the guys they have and the first-round picks, and we have a heck of a team. I said to our guys let’s have them talking about us at the end of this thing. How good this guy played, or how good that guy played. I think our guys are confident they can step up and play that way.”
It's the second straight year the two teams will meet in the playoffs though with much different goals for the Colts this time around.
A rebuilding Barrie team would drop a hard-fought six-game opening-round series last year to an Oshawa team that finished atop the conference and was looking for a big playoff run.
This time around, both teams meet with big expectations and a series of additions throughout the year aimed at taking a big run to win it all.
“Last year, we gave everything we got,” said Colts’ captain Jelsma of the first-round loss. “We knew Oshawa was a really good team. We gave them a good run and we fell short obviously, but going into this year it’s two great teams going at it.
“We’re going to give everything we got, and we know they’re going to give everything they got, and it just comes down to the small details and who wants it more. We’re prepared and we want to win, and may the best team win.”
Opportunities to win an OHL championship and play in a Memorial Cup don’t come along often. The chance to play in any kind of championship can be rare and Williamson is reminding his team of just how special it is to be this close.
“That’s what we talked about, the opportunity,” he said. “You have four teams left and there’s not a lot of warts on these teams. They’re all good teams. This is an opportunity to show what kind of hockey player you are. . .
“When you get to the final four, it’s real solid and you need to play your best. That’s when the cream rises to the top and you’re able to come out of the series and them talking about our team and not their team. These are the opportunities you look for.”
Both teams are similar in many ways, with deep rosters both up front, and back on the blueline.
While the Generals have seven NHL draft picks on their roster, including first-rounders Colby Barlow (Winnipeg), Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim), Calum Ritchie (Colorado), and Ben Danford (Toronto), the Colts will ice a roster with nine NHL prospects, led by first-rounders Cole Beaudoin (Utah) and Emil Hemming (Dallas) along with second-round picks Tristan Bertucci, Beau Akey and Gabriel Eliasson.
“We both persevered,” said Williamson of that high-profile talent helping them get here. “I don’t think the depth was on some of the (other) teams. We saw Brantford lose a player (Nick Lardis) and they just weren’t able to recover from it.
“I think we both have teams – we don’t want to lose anybody – but if we did, we’d still have a lot of depth in scoring and defence, and they (Oshawa) can say the same thing on their side.”
Goaltending has also been a strength for both teams with veteran overager Jacob Oester handling all the duties for the Generals and Sam Hillebrandt and Ben Hrebik both seeing action for the Colts.
“Marty can attest to this. You can’t be in this position without having a good goaltender,” said Oshawa interim head coach Brad Malone. “ Obviously, we got a ton of confidence in Ozzy. He saw a lot of starts over the year. We tried to manage his rest over the stretch, so we knew coming into these situations he’d be at the top of his game.”
Hillebrandt got the nod in the Game 7 win over Kingston and will start tonight against Oshawa.
“Sam has been playing great, so he’ll start the series for us, but we have total confidence (in Hrebik),” said Williamson. “If for some reason things aren’t quite going the way we want, we need a change to wake up our guys, we have that option. I don’t think a lot of the teams do have that option.
“We feel Benny can go in there and give us everything Sam is giving us. We just like Sam’s experience. He’s played against these guys. He’s playing really well. We’re going to continue with him right now.”
While the Colts will certainly have to keep a close eye on the big three of Orillia’s Barlow, Sennecke, and Ritchie, the Generals’ deep roster boasts plenty of other dangerous scoring options.
Top NHL prospect Owen Griffin has had a terrific playoff with a team-leading 11 goals in 12 games, halfway to the 22 he posted in 62 games during the regular season.
Powell has also solidified the top six.
“We know what kind of player he is,” Williamson said of Griffin, whose dad, Brad, he coached. “We heard through the rumour mill that he might have been traded somewhere, but probably the best trade they didn’t make was him not leaving the team, and he’s been outstanding for them.
“They have more than a big three. They have good hockey players there. The Powell kid is playing well for them. (Matthew) Buckley was a player that last scored a lot of goals on us and (Luke) Torrance plays hard. It’s a deep hockey team. I love their blueline. We got to watch Griffin, but there’s a lot of guys we got to watch on that hockey team.”
Malone credits Griffin’s progression in his game to the hard work the forward has put in. Despite his smaller five-foot-10 and 160-pound frame, Griffin is a strong skater and has a high hockey IQ that he uses to his advantage.
“We saw an opportunity to put him on the first power-play unit and to put him in the bumper,” said Malone. “In that position, he’s able to use his mind and his skill in a quiet area and small space. Right when we put him there was when he started to take off five-on-five to gain some more confidence.
“I think the chemistry he and Barlow have started to develop has been a big part of that.”
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While the Generals loaded up with huge additions in Barlow and Gibson, the Colts’ trio of acquisitions from North Bay of Dalyn Wakely, Anthony Romani, and Owen Van Steensel have been everything they have hoped for.
Together the line has combined for 22 goals and 55 points in 12 playoff games. All three will play in their fourth straight Eastern Conference final series.
“They’ve been great additions,” said Williamson. “They really fit into our team. Just great guys. I don’t know of any other group of guys that can say they’ve been to four conference finals. We were talking about it last night, and I shake my head when I think about it.
“But they play hard, and they wanted to come here, and they wanted to have this opportunity to win. We’re pretty happy to have them, I tell you that.”
Barlow was pursued by several teams, including the Colts, when the Owen Sound Attack made him available early in the season. He hasn’t disappointed, leading the Generals in playoff scoring with nine goals and 21 points, as well as playing strong without the puck.
“He’s just another piece and part of our arsenal,” said Malone. “For him, I think just the way he’s been playing a 200-foot-game, getting a lot of top matchups and responsibilities defensively.
“ So, as much as he’s putting the puck in the net offensively, the way he’s defending and playing a 200-foot game is critical for his development and critical for him as part of our team.”
The Colts have yet to lose at home during the playoffs (6-0) and they hope to continue that tonight in the series opener.
“We’re just extremely comfortable in front of our fan base,” said Jelsma. “We have a committed fan base here and they’re loud every night. . . We just love playing in front of those people and doing it for our city.”
Game time at Sadlon Arena is 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Game 2 of the series is Sunday in Barrie at 6 p.m. The series switches to Oshawa for Games 3 and 4 next Tuesday and Thursday at 7:05 p.m. . . . The Colts will have a fan bus going to Games 3 and 4 in Oshawa next week. See the team’s X page (Twitter) at @OHLBarrie Colts to book a seat.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Barrie Colts (42-22-2-2) vs. Oshawa Generals (41-21-4-2)
- FINISH: Colts (2nd conference), Generals (4th conference)
- HOW THEY GOT HERE: Colts (4-1 over Niagara, 4-3 over Kingston), Generals (4-2 over Brampton, 4-2 over Brantford)
- HEAD-TO-HEAD (SEASON): Colts 3-0-1
- POWER PLAY (PLAYOFFS): Colts (2nd, 40%), Generals (3rd, 34.7%)
- PENALTY KILL (PLAYOFFS): Colts (11th, 69.2%), Generals (8th, 73.9%)
- GOALS FOR (PLAYOFFS): Colts (57), Generals (51)
- GOALS AGAINST (PLAYOFFS): Colts (47), Generals (40)
TOP 3 PLAYOFF SCORERS
BARRIE
1. Dalyn Wakely (6-15-21)
2. Anthony Romani (9-9-18)
3. Beau Jelsma (7-9-16)
3. Tristan Bertucci (4-12-16)
OSHAWA
1. Colby Barlow (9-12-21)
2. Luca Marrelli (4-16-20)
3. Owen Griffin (11-8-19)
PREDICTION: Both are deep, experienced teams that could move on to the OHL finals. It will be another long, close series. BARRIE IN 7 GAMES
