Wednesday, April 30, 2014

OHL Playoff Predictions: OHL Final

Hard to believe that the season is finally reaching its end. It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the season starting, and here we are at its conclusion. The Guelph Storm are here in the finals like many of us thought they'd be at the start of the season. North Bay, on the other hand, is trying to cap off their Cinderella season. Man, who would have thought that they'd take out Oshawa as easy as they did. As for the predictions, I'm 9-5 through the playoffs so far, let's try to get to 10.

Here's how I see the OHL Final:

Guelph Storm vs. North Bay Battalion
Season Series: 2-0 (Guelph)
My Analysis: North Bay fans better be happy that I keep picking their team to lose. I think I'm their good luck charm (I've had them losing every round so far). The team has bought into Stan Butler's defensive first system at the right time and they're making it incredibly difficult for opposing offenses. This will be their biggest test yet as they face off against the OHL's top offense, an offense which has continued to score at about a 5 goal per game clip during this year's playoffs. North Bay's Jake Smith has been fantastic in net so far and he's going to need to be even better this round. Here's my train of thought. You have to celebrate and respect North Bay's outstanding defensive effort this postseason. I've underestimated them every step of the way. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for North Bay fans if I truly am the good luck charm), I just don't see them being able to stop Guelph. The Storm have been (very consistently) the best team in the league this season and I don't think anything stops them from reaching the Memorial Cup at this time.
Prediction: Guelph in 5

How do you think the OHL final ends?

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