Ottawa, ON – Thursday night the Ottawa Jr. Senators host the Brockville Braves in Game 1 of their best of 7 Semi Final Series. Listed are the scheduled times and places of the series.
Game 1, Thursday Mar 29 – Jim Durrell: 7:30
Game 2, Friday Mar 30 – BMC: 7:30
Game 3, Sunday Apr 1 – Jim Durrell: 7:30
Game 4, Fri Apr 6 – BMC: 7:30
Game 5, Sat Apr 7 – Jim Durrell: 8:00
Game 6, Tues Apr 10 – BMC: 7:30
Game 7, Wed Apr 11 – Jim Durrell 7:30
Last season, Ottawa was able to win against Brockville in the Quarter Finals series, 4 games to 1. Of course that came against a very different team with a different coach.
Brockville is coming off a series win via a sweep against the Kanata lasers in round one. Last season the Braves lost in round 1. This year, Brockville had a really good regular season going (38-20-2-2) with 80 points and finishing third in the standings. Ottawa is coming off a series win against the Pembroke Lumber Kings in six games.
Season Series:
Ottawa Jr. Senators 5, Brockville Braves 0 – Sun Sept 3
Ottawa Jr. Senators 5, Brockville Braves 4 – Fri Sept 15
Brockville Braves 2, Ottawa Jr. Senators 1 OT – Sat Oct 14
Ottawa Jr. Senators 6, Brockville Braves 2 – Fri Nov 14
Ottawa Jr. Senators 4, Brockville Braves 3 OT – Sat Dec 16
Ottawa won the season series four games to two. Two games went into OT and found game winners. These teams have not played each other since the first half of the season was coming to an end. Expect this to be a hard fought series.
Who to Watch
Nick Lalonde, Owen Guy, Pierre-Luc Veilette, Chiwetin Blacksmith and Zachary Salloum. Lalonde didn’t pick up a goal in the last series but is known as a goal scorer. He collected 10 assists in that series on a line with Guy. Guy is known for his passing ability and loves to split through the defense like he did in Game 6. He has 3 goals, 5 assists.
Veillette was known to be a key factor on the power play and his speed. He didn’t score until game 6 when he scored twice. He collected seven points with two goals and five assists last series. Blacksmith had a big game 4 – scoring a hat trick and picking up five points. He is a guy that can pass with one hand on his stick and he likes to work the puck along the boards and cycles the puck very well.
Salloum loves to pinch in on the rush or keeping the puck in the offensive zone. It could create odd man rushes the other way like it did in Game 6 but Ottawa was able to stop them He had two goals, three assists in the playoffs. His goals came in the early stages of the series. As for Goaltending, Connor Hicks will need to be big in the series. Although he wasn’t tested as much, the only time he was pulled was Game 3 when they lost 4-2. Hicks is 4-2-0 with a 2.04 GAA and .917 SV%.
Jonathan Hill, Eric Holland, Philippe Gilmour, Eric Faith and Mike McArthur are going to be key factors for the Braves.
Hill was a big factor on the Power Play collecting four assists and can be a back boner in this series. Brockville is known for their hot starts like they did in Games 1, 2 and 4 against Kanata. Hill is a guy that can get an open shot anywhere on the ice, including a bad angle and can cycle the puck very well.
Eric Holland was hot in round 1, collecting four goals, three assists. He had two goals in games three and four and was able to lead them to a sweep. He also could be factor on the power play as he’s been getting lots of minutes.
Gilmour had 25 goals in the regular season and has three goals with six points in the playoffs and can be clutch at some games. McArthur on the other hand was clutch in Game 2 collecting two goals but he can also pass the puck to other teammates and create some opportunities. Eric Faith was traded to the 73s then came back to Brockville in a trade and has picked up a point in four games in the playoffs. He started off with 1G/1A in game one then 1 assists in Games two and three and finally a PP goal in game 4.
As for Goaltending, if Brockville wants any chance of winning the series they will need their defense and Justin Evenson. He went 4-0 with a 2.65 GAA and .930 SV%. In Games one and three of the series, he face 40 plus shots in a game and at one point had to made 50 saves in a double OT victory. Brockville will need to block shots, limited the turnovers from their defensive end and staying out of the penalty box.
The Verdict:
Expect Ottawa to have the puck more in this series. They have lots of depth players that can play a big factor. They did struggle at times in their defensive zone at some portions last series. Their known for their big penalty kill work plus having players up on the rush on the PK when they need to kill it off.
Brockville will need their Goaltending and defense like they did in some games last series. They did struggle at some of the period but were able to fight it off. Brockville will need to capitalize on Power play opportunities when they get one and their #1 on the power play in the post season.
By: Mason Detre.
