The first round of play-offs has finished and now we’re into the semi-finals.

 

In the Midwest, I’m 3 for 4 on my play-off predictions.

 

Kitchener Dutchmen (1) vs. Waterloo Siskins (6)

 

Kitchener faced off against Brantford in the first round.  The games were all closer than everyone expected, but they took the 99er’s out in 5 games.  They outscored Brantford 24-12 in the series.

 

Adam Kawalec led the Dutchies with 10 points, 1 goal and 9 assists, against the 99er’s.  Owen Lane and Zack Hedley had the most goals with 4 each.  Hedley will be unavailable for Game 1 of this next series as he received a 2 game suspension in Game 4 of the last round.

 

In goal, Cossimo Lazzaino played the first 3 games, picking up 2 wins and 1 loss.  He gave up 10 goals for a GAA of 3.38 and had 76 saves for a save percentage of 0.884.  Luke Richardson played the last 2 games which were both wins.  He gave up just 2 goals for a GAA of 0.98 and had 49 saves for a save percentage of 0.961.

 

 

In the play-offs, there’s always a surprise or two and Waterloo is it this year, or at least this round.  Waterloo shocked everyone, including myself, when they swept 3rd place Listowel Cyclones.  As I said in the first round preview, Waterloo didn’t even think they were going to make the play-offs and now they’re in the semi-finals.  They outscored Listowel 14-8 in their series.

 

It’s no surprise that Nate Schnarr led the Siskins over the Cyclones.  He had 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points.  Connor Jean also had 3 goals with 2 assists for 5 points in the series.

 

The Siskins went with Mitchell Datz in goal for all 4 games.  He gave up 8 goals for a GAA of 1.99 and had 137 saves for a 0.945 save percentage.

 

 

Past Results

 

09/27/15          Kitchener 4 at Waterloo 1

10/27/15          Waterloo 3 at Kitchener 5

11/15/15          Kitchener 4 at Waterloo 1

11/17/15          Waterloo 2 at Kitchener 3

12/01/15          Waterloo 2 at Kitchener 6

01/24/16          Kitchener 8 at Waterloo 5

 

 

Date	Visitor	Home	Time	Arena
Tues. Mar. 15	Waterloo	Kitchener	4-1	Kitchener Aud
Thurs. Mar. 17	Kitchener	Waterloo	1-2	Waterloo Memorial
Sat. Mar. 19	Kitchener	Waterloo	4-5	Waterloo Memorial
Sun. Mar. 20	Waterloo	Kitchener	1-3	Kitchener Aud
Wed. Mar. 23	Waterloo	Kitchener	7:30	Kitchener Aud
Sun. Mar. 27	Kitchener	Waterloo	1:30	Waterloo Memorial
Mon. Mar. 28	Waterloo	Kitchener	7:30	Kitchener Aud

 

Waterloo leads the series 3-1

 

Prediction: I’ve been wrestling with this one for a few days.  Kitchener is the top seed and expected to go to the finals, but Waterloo has been on fire for the latter half of the season.  I think this series is going to be rough, they are cross-town rivals.  The last time they met in the play-offs was 2009 in the semi-finals.  I’m sorry Waterloo, but I gotta go with Kitchener in 6 games.  If it’s any consolation, I didn’t pick LaSalle to win a series last year, and they made it to the Sutherland Cup finals.

 

 

Stratford Cullitons (2) vs. Elmira Sugar Kings (5)

 

The Cullitons took on Brampton in the first round.  They swept the Bombers in 4 games, outscoring them 37-2.

 

In Game 1 against Brampton, the Cullitons set 2 new GOJHL play-off records.   Hayden Broomhead and Drew Gross combined to score 3 goals in 22 seconds, the previous record was 45 seconds.  They actually combined to score 4 goals in 39 seconds, 2 each, but fastest 4 goals is not tracked by the statistician that maintains the record book.  With all 4 goals, Josh Millar assisted on each, which set the new record for most points by 1 player in 1 period.  The previous record was 3.

 

Leading the Cullitons was Zander Pryor with 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points.  Zach Van Louwe was right behind him at 10 points.  Drew Gross had the most goals at 5.

 

Alex Brooks-Potts had all 4 games in net for Stratford.  He allowed just 2 goals against for a GAA of 0.50 and had 102 saves for a 0.981 save percentage.

 

 

Elmira took on Guelph in the first round, taking the Hurricanes in 5 games.  The games with Guelph relatively close, with 3 ending in 2-1 decisions.  The Sugar Kings outscored Guelph 15-7.

 

Ethan Skinner, Zac Coulter and Rob Kohli were the scoring leaders for the Kings in the series.  Skinner and Coulter had 7 points each while Skinner and Kohli had 3 goals each.

 

No surprise here, Jonathan Reinhart played all 5 games for the Kings.  Allowing 7 goals, his GAA is 1.37 and he had 156 saves for a 0.957 save percentage.

 

 

Past Results

 

10/16/15          Elmira 4 at Stratford 6

10/24/15          Stratford 4 at Elmira 2

11/15/15          Stratford 4 at Elmira 3 OT

12/11/15          Elmira 2 at Stratford 5

02/19/16          Elmira 2 at Stratford 2 OT

02/28/16          Stratford 2 at Elmira 3

 

This is their second round schedule

 

Date	Visitor	Home	Time	Arena
Fri. Mar. 18	Elmira	Stratford	4-5 OT	Allman Arena
Sun. Mar. 20	Stratford	Elmira	3-4	Dan Snyder Arena
Mon. Mar. 21	Elmira	Stratford	3-7	Allman Arena
Wed. Mar. 23	Stratford	Elmira	7:30	Dan Snyder Arena
Fri. Mar. 25	Elmira	Stratford	7:30	Allman Arena
Sun. Mar. 27	Stratford	Elmira	7:00	Dan Snyder Arena
Mon. Mar. 28	Elmira	Stratford	7:30	Allman Arena

 

Stratford leads the series 2-1

 

Prediction: This is a re-match of last season’s Cherrey Cup championship.  Last year, Tyler Canal was coach of Stratford and this year, he’s coach of the Sugar Kings.  I think Stratford will be too strong for Elmira, but this is going to be a good series to watch.  Cullitons in 6.

 

Elmira had put together a fan bus to go to Stratford for this round.  Contact Jocelyn at 519-669-2666 to reserve your seat and arrangement payment.

 

So that’s my preview and predictions for round 2.  I’ll see you again in another 2 weeks.