HEO Playoff Preview
Upper Canada Cyclones (1) vs. Ottawa Jr. 67’s (4)
The Upper Canada Cyclones finished the regular season with a record of 15-8-9 for 39 points, which barely earned them the #1 seed heading into the playoffs. Their record, however, is not indicative of how strong a team they truly are. The Cyclones are a deep team with two strong forward lines that drive offence, headlined by 2011-born team scoring leader Isaya Papineau (37 points, 23 goals), alongside standout forwards Julian Melo, Thomas Visser, and Ty Bryan. One of the big game changers is their captain, Cameron Kealey. Winning faceoffs comes naturally to Kealey, as he was 57% in the circle during the regular season. He is a fantastic two-way center who prioritizes good positional play, clogging up shooting and passing lanes with impeccable stick and body positioning in the defensive zone. At the other end of the ice, he is even more dangerous. Kealey reads the play incredibly well and makes incredible passes in the offensive zone. He draws defenders in, which creates time and space for his teammates. He has a quick release and uses it when he needs to, making him a threat no matter where he is in the offensive zone. If Kealey alone wasn’t a big enough threat, having Quinn Creally on his line definitely is. Creally is a similar player to Kealey, a good skater who makes strong offensive reads. Where Creally differs is his shot power and accuracy. He only had 11 goals in 25 regular-season games this season, but he is a much bigger scoring threat than the numbers suggest. If he heats up during this playoff series, the Jr. 67’s are going to find themselves in a lot of trouble, and the Cyclones’ back end, led by Blake White and Hayden McNeil, will be a big part of keeping their transition game humming. Behind them, league-lowest GAA leader Kellen McKeown (2.27) provides a steady last line of defence, giving the Cyclones confidence that if the game tightens up, they have the goaltending to match.
The Ottawa Jr. 67’s enter this playoff series holding a losing record to the Cyclones this year and are going to need to play their best to advance. The key to the 67’s game all year has been defence, and they will need to continue that trend in the postseason. One of the biggest surprises is how effective they have been on the penalty kill against the Cyclones. Holding a team filled with offensive weapons to just 11% on the powerplay is no easy task, yet the 67’s seemed to handle the job with ease. They allowed a shockingly low three goals against on the penalty kill all season against the Cyclones. The 67’s will look to a couple of their strongest forwards to give them any chance they can get to win this series, starting with team leading scorer Innis Robinson (31 points in 32 games) and a forward group that also includes William Boyko, Kyson McMillan, and Alexandre Makaridze, who was limited to only 18 games. Alexandre Saulnier is a key part of the 67’s forward group. He is a great playmaker with the ability to find his teammates in high-danger scoring zones. Though he missed some time this year, he was still able to be over a point-per-game and was a key contributor whenever he was on the ice. Saulnier is also a strong defensive forward and a big part of the 67’s penalty kill. He uses his long reach, active stick, and large frame to win battles and take the puck from opposing players. Saulnier’s 200-foot game will need to be on full display in this series as the 67’s try to take down the top-seeded Cyclones. On the back end, defenceman Marco Nichele, who led all HEO blueliners in points with 23, adds another layer to Ottawa’s puck-moving and transition game, and in goal the 67’s can lean on Athan Stone and Keenan McArthur, both of whom finished top five in GAA, to keep games tight when the Cyclones’ pressure ramps up.
PDA’s Staff Pick: Upper Canada Cyclones — 6/8 (75% of votes)
Ottawa Valley Titans (2) vs. Eastern Ontario Wild (3)
The Titans and Wild are set to face off in what should be an incredibly entertaining and high-octane offensive battle. The Wild finished the season just one point ahead of the Titans, with a record of 16-10-6 for 38 points. The Wild will have to look towards their leading scorer, Gavin Heroux, and co-leading point producer Tristan Gendron-Steele (tied with Heroux at 37 points), to lead the charge, with other notable forwards like Isaac Charbonneau, Brock Lamarche, Lawson McCann and Evan Allenby providing additional punch up front. Heroux may not be the biggest player, but what he lacks in size he makes up for with pure offensive talent. He uses high-level speed and IQ to create space in the offensive zone for his teammates, where he is then able to feed them with great passes to set up top-tier scoring chances. When he’s not setting up his teammates with scoring chances, he also has the ability to score himself. With a plus-level shot and the ability to get it off quickly, Heroux has the ability to generate offence for his team in several different ways. He is going to be a major factor for the Wild’s offence when they face off against a strong Titans team, and they will also lean on their back end, particularly Leo Hendriks and Theo Gravelle, to move pucks cleanly and keep the attack rolling. In goal, Griffin Amey, who led the league in wins, gives the Wild another steady presence and the ability to close out tight games when the margin for error shrinks.
The Titans finished the season with a record of 15-10-7, just one point back of the Wild. Led by Cole Krottner and Jacob Tysick (1st and 2nd in HEO scoring), the Titans look to continue their dominance over the Wild after ending the regular season series with a record of 6-2. Krottner, who led the league with 50 points in just 31 games, will play a large role in facilitating the offence for the Titans, with other notable standouts like Ben Schori and William Gray adding depth and finishing ability up front. Driving the play is something Krottner does exceptionally well; he creates space in the offensive zone, drawing defenders towards him before dishing off accurate passes to teammates who are left wide open with dangerous scoring chances. Not only is Krottner a skilled playmaker, he is also a prolific scorer with a very lethal shot built on accuracy and a quick release. If he is given time and space in the offensive zone, it is almost a guarantee that he will create scoring chances. If he is playing at his best and the Wild cannot find ways to shut him down, it is likely that the Titans will win the series. The last big factor in this series for the Titans is their star goaltender, Marcus Smolcic. Smolcic finished the season with a stellar .930 save percentage and was able to keep shooters at bay all season. His movements are calm, clean and smooth, attributes that are typically beneficial in a tense playoff atmosphere. Another part of what makes Smolcic a player to watch in this series is his ability to stop high-danger chances, as he has an .865 save percentage against shots coming from the house. With the Wild generating the majority of their offence from that area, this will be an interesting battle to keep an eye on throughout the series. At the other end of the ice, the Wild are the best-equipped team in the league to match up against their OVT counterpart in Smolcic. Eastern Ontario’s Josh Groulx and Griffin Amey both posted save percentages above .900 this year in league play, and will give their team an opportunity to stay in each game.
Their biggest strength all season was scoring, leading the league with 110 goals for; they struggled in the defensive zone with 88 goals against. There are a couple of keys to winning this series for the Wild. The first is going to be finding multiple ways to score. As strong as they were offensively this season, most of their goals came from within the house. Compared to other teams, the Wild are typically scoring from just one area of the ice, meaning opponents can neutralize their offence if they figure this out. The one team that figured this out the quickest was the Titans. They only allowed the Wild to score 18 goals over eight games this season, shutting down the high-octane offence that was so dominant across the rest of the league. The Titans will need to play a smart and structured defensive game, collapsing towards the middle and closing off shooting lanes, and they will lean on their back end, Jake Lowrey, Quinten de Ruiter, and Braeden McColgan, to keep gaps tight, win retrievals, and start clean exits. Keeping the Wild to the perimeter will be a massive factor if the Titans want to win the series. The other major component is the Titans’ power play, which dominated the Wild this season at a mind blowing 36%. If the Wild can’t stay out of the box, they will find themselves in a lot of trouble. This series could go either way, but the Titans hold the initial edge.
PDA’s Staff Pick: Ottawa Valley Titans — 6/8 (75% of votes)
