In the London-Flint first round playoff series that starts Friday, 7 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens.
The Depth
Few teams in junior hockey have London’s array of talent. They will start it short without leading goal-scorer Ruslan Gazizov, but he was one of nine 20-goal men on board this season. The Firebirds have three (Nolan Dann, Coulson Pitre, Oliver Peer) after trading three away before the deadline.
Man Up
The Knights were the OHL’s best with the man advantage (32.6 per cent) in the last 25 years. They have recently used two units, with Easton Cowan and Denver Barkey seeing time on both. Oliver Bonk and Kasper Halttunen were the big finishers on it. “You need consistency,” London assistant coach Dylan Hunter said. “We don’t care if you go 3-for-5 on the power play one game and zeroes the next three. I’d rather have 1-for-4 each game and get that goal at a big time in the game.”
The Kill
The Knights give up a lot of power plays because they take a ton of penalties. Discipline will be an important part of their run this spring. But the problem for foes is the built-in concern of London’s ability to strike short-handed. They tied a league record with 29 shorties while Cowan and Barkey combined for 25 short-handed points. Those are game-changing tallies and it makes a lot of power plays a little more deliberate in their puck-handling against it. Flint’s power play was just 16.6 per cent this year.
Top Guns
You win big games when your best players are a factor. Cowan and Barkey did that over the final week with huge contributions, especially in the first-place-clinching win over Guelph. Any offensive punch you get from rookies in the post-season is a bonus. The guys who chart the course steer the ship. It’s been that way forever.
Turn the page
There are bumps in the road. You suffer losses, you need to ensure they don’t turn into losing skids. Players get hurt or suspended, others have to step up. London and the Soo were the best at bouncing back this season. Neither lost more than twice in a row before recovering. That shows attention to detail and a winning attitude. North Bay, Mississauga and Saginaw were good at it, too. It’s going to be hard to beat those teams four times over a two-week span.
Be the first to comment