A preview of the OHL Eastern Conference Championship Series; North Bay vs. Oshawa
The quest for the Bobby Orr Trophy commences Friday night at the Tribute Communities Centre. The Oshawa Generals get the start at home against the North Bay Battalion. The driving distance between these two cities is 306km. Better make sure the team bus has a tank full of gas.
The Gens's road to the conference finals started against the eighth-seeded Barrie Colts. They gave their fans a bit of a scare losing game one, and a closer series than originally expected. Oshawa closed it out in six games and then swept the Ottawa 67's in round two.
New York Rangers prospect Dylan Roobroeck looks like a man amongst boys in these OHL playoffs. He's tied for first in playoff scoring (16) and his 2024 NHL draft-eligible linemate Beckett Sennecke sits just one point behind him. Sennecke has elevated his game and is letting NHL teams know he is a playoff performer.
Jacob Oster looks like a vintage Ken Appleby in the crease for the Generals. He holds the second-best save percentage (.933) and goals-against-average (1.91) in the OHL Playoffs while playing four more games than Andrew Oke who sits first in those categories. Oster had a .940 save percentage in round two against the 67's.
North Bay has scored more goals than any other team in the playoffs with 43. And naturally holds the best powerplay percentage (29%) out of the remaining four teams. Keeping their powerplay humming will be challenging as the Generals have the best penalty kill at 84.6%. Ironically, North Bay's penalty kill went a perfect 6/6 against Oshawa in the regular season.
The Battalion churned through the Kingston Frontenacs in round one, winning in five and outscoring them 22-14. Their second-round matchup was the battle of Highway 17 against the Sudbury Wolves. Mike McIvor was sensational in net for North Bay, posting a .945 save percentage in their four-game sweep to the Wolves. McIvor had to come in and replace Winnipeg Jets prospect Dom DiVincentiis in game two of round one after he went down with a lower-body injury
Dalyn Wakely has been a goal-scoring machine for the Battalion in these playoffs, leading all players in goals with 11. Florida Panthers prospect Sandis Vilmanis has recorded eight points in both series and is tied with Roobroeck for the most points in the playoffs.
One thing that has been very impressive for North Bay in these playoffs thus far is the emergence of certain players while missing their No. 1 goaltender, the top goal scorer in the OHL Anthony Romani, and their captain Liam Arnsby. Dallas Stars prospect Justin Ertel finished the season fourth in points for the Battalion but has been a consistent contributor in these playoffs with six goals and 15 points in nine games.
Both teams exchanged victories against each other this season. North Bay took game one 5-2 back on Oct. 15. Owen Van Steensel scored a hat trick. Dalyn Wakely had a three-assist night. And Jacob Oster made 36 stops on 40 shots in the loss for Oshawa. Their next meeting came on New Year's Eve where Dylan Roobroeck scored a goal late to force overtime and the eventual game-winner in the extra frame.
North Bay swept Oshawa in the conference finals in 2014, but the Generals got their sweet revenge the following year in the same spot, winning the series in six, and would go on to win the OHL Championship and Memorial Cup.
The OHL expanded to 20 teams in 1998-99. Since then, Oshawa have reached the conference finals five times, and are 1-4.
After relocating from Brampton in 2013, the North Bay Battalion have been to four conference finals, and this year will be their third year in a row. Third time's the charm?
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