The finals are upon us. In the Western Conference, we have a rematch of last year’s semi-final. No. 1 Leamington Flyers vs. No. 2 London Nationals.
Leamington was projected to 3-peat at the start of the season, so the fact that they’re in the finals isn’t a big surprise. The last series with Chatham went 6 games. It started as a visitor series for the first 4 games, but the Flyers buckled down and took the last 2 games to defeat the Maroons in 6.
When the play-offs started, people thought Leamington would be facing LaSalle for the Bill Weir Cup again. I expected the Vipers to be here, but London knocked them off in 6 games.
Let’s take a look at the teams.
Leamington is primarily older. Their roster consists of 10 95’s, 8 96’s, 2 97’s, 2 98’s and 1 99. London is a little bit younger with 9 95’s, 5 96’s, 4 97’s, 3 98’s and 2 99’s.
They Flyers get pretty consistent scoring from their lineup. Scott Emerson is leading the way with 9 goals, while Mitchell Amante is the set up man with 15 assists. Scott Goodman and Austin Kemp are the consistent goal scorers for the Nationals. The set up man appears to be John Adams.
Leamington has a strong defensive core that keeps the puck away from the net. Leading that is Captain Jacob McGhee. London’s defence is led by Tyler Sehovic who has a deadly shot on the point. Rookie Jordan DiCicco is holding his own for only being 16.
Flyers rookie sensation Tyler Wall played all 6 games against Chatham in the last round. He has a record of 6-2 in the post-season with 19 goals against for a GAA of 2.37 and 182 saves for a save percentage of 0.905%. London went with Connor Hughes against LaSalle. He’s entering the finals with a 6-2 record. He’s allowed 21 goals for a GAA of 2.61 and 238 saves for a 0.919 save percentage.
Leamington’s PP is 40.00 and leads the remaining 6 teams. They’ve scored 22 goals on 55 opportunities. Their PK is the worst at 82.26. They’ve allowed 11 goals on 62 chances, but have scored 2 shorthanded goals. London’s PP is the worst at 23.91. They have 11 goals on 46 opportunities and 2 shorthanded goals against. Their PK is fourth at 83.61 with 10 goals against on 61 opportunities.
PAST RESULTS
10/01/15 London 0 at Leamington 0 OT
11/04/15 Leamington 2 at London 5
12/03/15 London 3 at Leamington 5
01/27/16 Leamington 3 at London 1
02/04/16 London 2 at Leamington 1
02/10/16 Leamington 3 at London 5
As you can see, in the regular season all the games were very close. London is only 1 of 2 teams that Leamington did not have a winning record over.
I don’t have a schedule for this one, but I’m guessing Game 1 will be Thursday in Leamington.
Prediction: This series is going to be rough and tough. I think this series is going to come down to special teams, which is interesting in itself. Leamington’s PP is the best, but PK is the worst, whereas London’s PP is the worst and their PK isn’t much better. I’d like to go with London in this series, but Leamington will take it in 6 games.
