In familiar foe, Knights look for familiar result in OHL Final

Knight Watch: London takes a perfect 12-0 playoff record into the OHL Finals; It’s a rematch vs. Oshawa; Can anyone stop London this year?; Knights look to book ticket to Memorial Cup …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

* * *

For the first time in nearly 70 years, we have a rematch for the OHL Finals.

The London Knights and Oshawa Generals both swept their respective conference championships, and it’s set up a nice rematch of last year’s final to crown a league champion.

Oshawa is a much stronger — and healthier — team than the one that London swept last year. However, the Knights are also an improved team from the one that came within a win of claiming the 2024 Memorial Cup.

Bottom line? Both rosters are stacked with potential NHL talent, with 19 affiliated prospects playing in this series — seven from Oshawa and 12 on London.

The two teams split the season series (give Oshawa the slight edge, since London’s victory came in overtime), making the Generals the only team in the OHL to claim such an advantage over the Knights.

Few on Oshawa’s roster are more familiar with the Knights than Colby Barlow, who played three seasons in the OHL’s Midwest Division with the Owen Sound Attack before being traded to the Generals. Of his 148 career regular season goals, 14 have come against London.

The Generals rely heavily on their top-end talent, and those players have carried the workload quite nicely, as they boats four of the top five scorers in the playoffs. Defenseman Luca Marrelli leads all point getters with 31, followed by Barlow’s 29, Beckett Sennecke’s 27, and Owen Griffin’s 26.

Griffin’s production has been a pleasant surprise. His current point total is the most by an Under-18 player since Connor McDavid’s 49 points in the 2015 postseason. Barlow, Sennecke and Griffin have combined for 40 goals — more than half of the Generals’ tallies through their first three playoff series.

We should get another good matchup in net, too, with the Knights’ Austin Elliott and the Generals’ Jacob Oster between the pipes. Elliott won a remarkable 32 of his 33 starts this season — and all 12 of his playoff games thus far. Oster also won 32 regular season games and was the OHL Goaltender of the Year last season.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

After setting the single-season mark for points by a defenseman, the Knights’ Sam Dickinson is chasing another franchise record. He’s three points back of Dennis Wideman for most playoff points by a blueliner.

In the 112-year history of the J. Robertson Cup, this year marks just the third time that two teams have faced each other in back-to-back finals (both previous times, the league was OHA). The Toronto Marlboros and St. Catharines Teepees played in the 1954 and 1955 Finals, while the Oshawa Generals and Toronto Marlboros squared off against each other in both 1940 and 1941.

Oshawa should be London’s biggest challenge, by far, of this year’s postseason, one that has featured three straight four-game sweeps for the Knights. And the Generals are looking for a better result this time around after a depleted lineup was swept by London last year.

Expect a more back-and-forth series this time around — although with the same result. London simply has too much depth. If there is one team in the OHL that could beat them, it’d be the Oshawa Generals. But I predict the Knights win in six games to book their ticket to Rimouski and a second straight Memorial Cup appearance — perhaps winning it all this time.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

* * *

OHL Playoffs: Finals — London Knights (#1 in West) vs. Oshawa Generals (#4 in East)

Game 1: Thurs. May 8 (7:00pm @ London)
Game 2: Sat. May 10 (7:00pm @ London)
Game 3: Mon. May 12 (7:00pm @ Oshawa)
Game 4: Tues. May 13 (7:00pm @ Oshawa)
Game 5: Thurs. May 15 (7:00pm @ London) (If necessary)*
Game 6: Sat. May 17 (7:00pm @ Oshawa) (If necessary)*
Game 7: Mon. May 19 (12:00pm @ London) (If necessary)*

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

15 - Easton Cowan is hoping for a similar result to last year’s final, as he scored three goals and had 15 points in the four-game sweep last spring.

44 - Between the regular season and playoffs, Austin Elliott has won 44 of his 45 starts this season.

12 - The Knights are the third team in OHL history to reach the finals with a perfect 12-0 record. The record for longest playoff winning streak is 14.

19 - There will be plenty of potential NHL talent on display in this series, with 19 players affiliated with an NHL team (seven from Oshawa, and 12 from London).

9 - Landon Sim, who is tied for the team lead with nine goals in the postseason, recently signed a pro contract with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

- Ryan Roobroeck won gold with Canada at the U18 World Championship.

- The OHL Finals will feature plenty of local talent. The Oshawa Generals have former London Junior Knight Harrison Franssen, as well as Ethan Martin from nearby Stratford. The Knights, meanwhile, have Strathroy native Rene Van Bommel, Watford’s Evan Van Gorp, and Londoners Jacob Julien and Liam Spencer.