It is all set in stone, the Carleton Place Canadians will faceoff against the Pembroke Lumber Kings for the prestigious Bogart Cup.  The two clubs last met during the 2013-14 playoffs when the Canadians defeated the Lumber Kings in Game 7 of the Semi Finals to advance to the Finals.  While the Lumber Kings season ended, the Canadians went on to be crowned 2014 Bogart Cup Champions before winning the Fred Page Cup and being runners-up at the RBC Cup.  The best-of-seven series gets underway this Sunday afternoon in Carleton Place at 3pm.  The full schedule looks like this:

Game 1 – Pembroke @ Carleton Place – Sunday April 12 @ 3pm

Game 2 – Carleton Place @ Pembroke – Monday April 13 @ 7:30pm

Game 3 – Pembroke @ Carleton Place – Thursday April 16 @ 7:30pm

Game 4 – Carleton Place @ Pembroke – Friday April 17 @ 7:30pm

Game 5 – Pembroke @ Carleton Place – Sunday April 19 @ 3pm

Game 6 – Carleton Place @ Pembroke – Tuesday April 21 @ 7:30pm

Game 7 – Pembroke @ Carleton Place – Thursday April 23 @ 7:30pm

Carleton Place Canadians

The #5 ranked club nationally have bulldozed their way through the postseason so far and have yet to show any signs of slowing down.  After sweeping their 1st round match-up with the Nepean Raiders, the Canadians would be in tough with a strong Cornwall Colts club but would ultimately come out on top taking the series 4-2.

Guillaume Therien has been an absolute rock between the pipes for the Canadians, he is ranked 2nd in postseason Wins (7), GAA (1.76), and Shutouts (1), while placing 3rd in SV% (.923).  Although the Canadians are a well-oiled machine, they do have their hiccups at moments, and that is when Therien makes his presence felt.  He will need to continue to be great in order to hold off a strong Pembroke offense.

Speaking of offense, the Canadians do not lack one as they finished 2nd behind only Pembroke in Goals Scored this season and currently top all teams in the postseason.  Where some teams have one line that does most of the scoring, the Canadians have depth scoring.  11 players posted over 30 points this season while 6 scored 20+ goals, (Bryce Van Horn had 19).  Captain Stephen Baylis leads the club with 13 points in 10 playoff games while Andy Sturtz and Craig Pefley are right behind with 11 each.  Baylis, Sturtz, and Jordan Larson pace the Canadians with 5 goals while Pefley’s 9 assists are tops on the team.  Only 2 players have failed to record a point so far in the playoffs for Carleton Place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carleton Place takes pride in team defense and being difficult to play against.  With two solid goaltenders in Therien and Adrian Clark, the Canadians are in good shape when their is a breakdown.  Through 10 games they have only allowed 19 goals against which puts them tops in postseason play.  Newcomer Ryker Killins has provided some welcomed offense from the point as he has fit right in after being acquired back in January from Muskegon of the USHL.  Killins, to go along with the likes of veterans Devin Campbell, Willie Brooks, Owen Stewart, Alex Robinson, and A.J Klein make Carleton Place an absolute force from back-to-front.

Pembroke Lumber Kings

They may not have gotten through the playoffs with as much ease as Carleton Place has, but they have been extremely impressive to say the least.  They knocked out the Brockville Braves in 5 games in their first round match-up before they would take on the Ottawa Jr Senators in the Semi-Finals.  The series would go the distance and welcome some late-game heroics as Pembroke would score with less than 1 minute on the clock to take the lead and never look back as they won the series 4-3.

Jordan Piccolino has done his fair share of traveling through out his junior career to date.  After backstopping the Cornwall Colts to a 2013 Bogart Cup Title and taking Playoff MVP Honors, Piccolino would be property of the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, the Olds Grizzlys of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, the LaRonge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League before finding his way back to the CCHL with Pembroke late this season.  Since joining the Lumber Kings, Piccolino has been everything they had hoped for and more.  He ranks 1st in Playoff Wins (8), Shutouts (3), Saves (303), and 4th in GAA (2.26) as the move back to Ontario has benefited him greatly.

The Lumber Kings have a very special cast of offensive minded forwards that will make any team in the country pay for their mistakes.  Felix Chamberland and Anthony Nellis are tied for the playoff lead in goals (7) and points (16).  To go along with them, Owen McDade and Jesse Blais have contributed nicely with 5 goals apiece while Alexandre Boivin is 3rd overall in playoff scoring with 4 goals and 14 points, his 10 assists put him 1st in that statistic.

 

 

 

 

 

The blue line is led by Captain Stephan Beauvais as he is a leader on and off the ice, his 9 points are tied for 1st among all CCHL defensemen in playoff scoring.  Fraser Turner, Colton Keuhl, Brett du Puy, Adam Beveridge, Dylan Chase, and Mitchell Mueller make up the rest of the Lumber Kings back-end.  They also have youngster Cale List who can jump into the lineup at anytime as he fits right in at the young age of 16 and is a big part of the future.

The Final Word

Buckle your seat belts, this is going to be a wild ride to the finish.  Fearless prediction… It’s going 7 games.