Welcome back fans!  The GOJHL semi-finals kicked off last night.  Let’s see who’s made it and preview the second round.

London Nationals (1) vs. Chatham Maroons (6)

London played Strathroy in the first round, sweeping the Rockets.  When this series started last night, they had been off for a full week, but that’s probably not a bad thing for the Nationals.

Against Strathroy, the Nationals had 2 blow-out wins and 2 close, 1-goal games.  Some tensions boiled over a few times and London will need to keep their tempers in check against Chatham. 

Leading the Nationals in the playoffs is Captain Brenden Trottier.   He has 1 goal and 13 assists so far.  He’s clearly the set-up man and Chatham will want to stay on him, as well as on Brandon Glover.

Chatham finished the regular season in 6th place, but don’t let that fool you, the Maroons are a tough team to play against.  They hit hard, they have some talent in Dane Johnstone and Bryce Yetman, and in the regular season they had the 3rd best PP and PK in the Conference.  They also have the added benefit of some very passionate fans that get the Maroons pumped during any game, especially in their own arena.  

In the first round, they played 4th place LaSalle and went the distance with the Vipers.  The Maroons found themselves down 2-0 in the series and climbed back to tie it 2-2 and then traded the next 2 games before taking game 7.  

Past Results                        

09/27/17    Chatham 3 at London 7   
10/08/17    London 8 at Chatham 4   
11/22/17    Chatham 5 at London 8   
01/07/18    London 8 at Chatham 4   
01/24/18    Chatham 1 at London 6   
02/25/18    London 4 at Chatham 2   

Schedule

Game 1    March 14, 7:30 pm    Western Fair
Game 2    March 17, 7:30 pm    Western Fair
Game 3    March 18, 7:00 pm    Chatham Memorial
Game 4    March 20, 7:00 pm    Chatham Memorial
Game 5    March 21, 7:30 pm    Western Fair
Game 6    March 22, 7:00 pm    Chatham Memorial
Game 7    March 24, 7:30 pm    Western Fair

Leamington Flyers (2) vs. St. Thomas Stars (5)

Leamington played Komoka in the first round, and took the Kings in 4 games.  Although it was a sweep, they were 4 close games against Komoka, including 1 that went to OT.

Much like he did in the regular season, Griffin Robinson is leading the Flyers in the playoffs.  In 4 games, he has 3 goals and 4 assists.  

St. Thomas had Sarnia in the first round.  I know that Sarnia was confident going into the playoffs and worked hard to get home-ice advantage, but they were shocked by the Stars who took them out in 5 games.

St. Thomas got out to a 2-0 series lead and then took the last 2 games for a 4-1 series win.  The first 4 games were very close, within 1-2 goals, and then game 5 was a bit of a blow out.

The Stars saw the return of Brett Fisher to Jr. B hockey, playing his first 5 games since leaving Komoka in November.  Fisher and his twin brother Kyle were traded to St. Thomas at the January 10 deadline.  Kyle has each to make his Stars debut, but Brett made his GOJHL return for the playoffs.  

Past Results                                 

10/05/17    St. Thomas 3 at Leamington 7     
11/03/17    Leamington 6 at St. Thomas 7     
11/24/17    Leamington 3 at St. Thomas 2     
11/30/17    St. Thomas 4 at Leamington 4 OT  
01/26/18    Leamington 4 at St. Thomas 3 OT  
02/22/18    St. Thomas 2 at Leamington 2 OT  

Schedule

Game 1    March 15, 7:10 pm    Kinsmen Rec Centre
Game 2    March 16, 7:30 pm    Timken Centre
Game 3    March 18, 7:10 pm    Kinsmen Rec Centre
Game 4    March 19, 7:30 pm    Timken Centre
Game 5    March 22, 7:10 pm    Kingsmen Rec Centre
Game 6    March 23, 7:30 pm    St. Thomas Memorial
Game 7    March 25, 7:10 pm    Kinsmen Rec Centre

So that’s your second round preview.  I’ll see you all again in 2 weeks for the Bill Weir Cup Finals Preview.

Stacy
@TheRocketGirl16

Photo Credit: Luke Durda