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The Lakeshore Canadiens and Essex 73’s will be guarding against an upset.
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The top two seeds carry home-ice advantage into the semifinals of the Bills Stobbs Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
However, the fifth-seeded Wheatley Sharks are feeling a little more confident heading into the series against the top-seeded Canadiens after a first-round playoff sweep of the fourth-seeded Amherstburg Admirals. Meanwhile, the third-seeded Mooretown Flags actually won the regular-season series against the second-seeded 73’s.
“We’re going to play it one game at a time,” said 73’s forward Tycen Chittle, who said his team is not looking past anyone.
The 73’s and Flags get underway in a best-of-seven series on Sunday in Essex at 2:30 pm with Game 2 set for Monday in Mooretown. The Sharks head to Lakeshore on Tuesday to open that series at 7 pm
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No. 1 Lakeshore vs. No. 5 Wheatley
The Sharks did not win a game in four regular-season meetings with the Admirals before turning the tables in the first round to score a series sweep and advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“Being a part of that is huge,” said Sharks’ goalie Ethan Handley said, whose team is taking aim at a spot in the final for the first time since 2013. “Lakeshore’s record is good, but anything can happen and I know what we’ve got.
“Sometimes, hardworking teams can beat a skilled team and I’m excited. We’re playing the best team in the province at this time of year and you’ve got a chance to beat them. Who doesn’t want that chance?
Lakeshore won all four regular-season meetings with the Sharks and had little trouble in a four-game sweep of eighth-seeded Wallaceburg in the first round with 10 different players scoring a goal and 18 different players hitting the scoresheet.
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“I’m happy that we did what we needed to do, but there’s definitely a few areas we’d like to clean up,” Canadiens’ head coach Anthony Iaquinta said. “Credit to Wheatley, they work hard. We have to bring our effort level every night because they’re not going to go away.”
The 19-year-old Handley, who was a Canadiens’ affiliated player in 2019-20, won all three starts in the series against Amherstburg. He posted two shutouts and stopped 68-of-69 shots, but he’s not looking back on the first round.
“I’m not really a big stats guy,” said Handley, who is from Kingsville. “Get the win and go from there. I don’t care if it’s 6-5 or I have a good game and get a shutout. Winning is all that matters in playoffs.”
No. 2 Essex vs. No. 3 Mooretown
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Chittle was pleased with how the 73’s shifted into playoff mode in the first round against seventh-seeded Petrolia.
“I don’t think it could have gone any better,” said the 21-year-old Chittle, who paced the offense with four goals and eight points in the series. “Everyone is starting to click in and it was playoff hockey. A little different from the regular season and it got us ready for this big series.”
Essex got plenty of balance in the first round and outscored Petrolia 20-6 in the four-game sweep with a dozen different players scoring in the series and both goalies picking up a pair of wins.
“Every line’s scoring right now, both goalies got in games, the defense scored and we came out injury free,” 73’s head coach Danny Anger said. “We were preparing for Mooretown and its systems. We have to be physical, but stay out of the penalty box and use our forecheck.”
Mooretown won two games and tied another in the four regular-season meetings with Essex, but Chittle is hoping the 73’s can carry that first-round momentum into this series.
“Stay physical, ready to play and stay disciplined,” Chittle said. “I think this is a great group on and off the ice and everyone clicks.
“I think it’s a team that can win a championship and I’m ready. Bring it on.”
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