Before I get started on this preview, I just want to take a moment for the Humboldt tragedy.  Our entire country, and the entire hockey world, was shaken Friday night when the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Humboldt Broncos team was involved in a horrific crash when their team bus collided with a semi-truck on their way to Game 5 of their semi-finals against Nipawin Hawks.  My heart breaks for the entire Broncos team and for their community.  If you’re able to help, a Go Fund Me page has been set up to help the victims’ families.  

https://ca.gofundme.com/funds-for-humboldt-broncos

Now back to the GOJHL!  The Conference finals are done and now it’s time for the Sutherland Cup semi-finals.  We have the Golden Horseshoe Champions Caledonia Corvairs, Bill Weir Cup Western Champions London Nationals, Cherrey Cup Midwest Champions Listowel Cyclones and Elmira Sugar Kings as the wildcard team.

This is the exact same Sutherland Cup semi-finals as last year.  Caledonia is playing Elmira and London is playing Listowel.  The theme of this year is redemption.

Caledonia Corvairs (1) vs. Elmira Sugar Kings (WC)

The Corvairs are 5-time Golden Horseshoe Champions.  They enter the Sutherland Cup as the top seed with just 1 playoff loss in 3 rounds.  They took out Fort Erie, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines to get here.

Caledonia is a well-oiled machine.  They aren’t 5-time Horseshoe Champs and 3-time Suthy Champions for nothing.  Coach Mike Bullard gets the most and best out of his players every game.  In Caledonia, losing is not acceptable.

Elmira is again the wildcard.  Of the 3 Conference Finalists, they had the best playoff record.  They are the defending Sutherland Cup Champions.  Last year, the Kings took out Caledonia in the semi-finals, so this year, Caledonia is looking for revenge.  The difference from last year is that they don’t have Jonathan Reinhart in net.  They do have Tyler Mazzocato though, and he’s very good between the pipes.

The Kings faced Brampton, Stratford and Listowel in the Cherrey Cup playoffs.  They fell short in their series against Listowel, losing in a sweep to the back-to-back Cherrey Cup champs. The Corvairs are looking to redeem themselves from last year, while the Sugar Kings look to recreate magic.  

Schedule

Game 1    April 11, 7:30 pm    Haldimand Centre
Game 2    April 12, 7:30 pm    Dan Snyder Arena
Game 3    April 14, 7:30 pm    Haldimand Centre
Game 4    April 15, 7:00 pm    Dan Snyder Arena
Game 5    April 18, 7:30 pm    Haldimand Centre
Game 6    April 20, 7:30 pm    Dan Snyder Arena
Game 7    April 21, 7:30 pm    Haldimand Centre

London Nationals (2) vs. Listowel Cyclones (3)

London is your 3-time Bill Weir Cup Western Conference Champions.  They took on Listowel last year in the semi’s, grounding the Cyclones in 5 games.

The Nats enter the Sutherland Cup as the second seed with 2 playoff losses.  They swept Strathroy in the first round, took out Chatham in 6 games in the second round, then swept St. Thomas in the finals.

London is relying on goalie David Ovsjannikov to continue rolling through to the Sutherland Cup finals.  The Nats have made it to the finals the last 2 years and will be looking to get there again for their ultimate prize.

Listowel will be looking to kick up the dust against London and take them out to move on to the next round.  Before winning the Cherrey Cup last year, it had been 12 seasons since they’d been involved in the Sutherland Cup, and with the change in format, it’s a different experience now.  This is their second chance.  They now know what to expect and will be ready.

The Cyclones do have a Reinhart, in Johnny’s little brother Evan, but they’ve been relying on former Cambridge Winter Hawk Max Wright between the pipes this year.  Wright proved himself in Cambridge last year, but with Listowel, he’s gone to the next level.  

This series is going to be the battle of the goalies.  Ovsjannikov and Wright have very similar numbers in both the regular season and playoffs.    
  

Schedule

Game 1    April 11, 7:30 pm    Western Fair
Game 2    April 13, 7:30 pm    Steve Kerr 
Game 3    April 14, 7:30 pm    Western Fair
Game 4    April 17, 7:30 pm    Steve Kerr 
Game 5    April 18, 7:30 pm    Western Fair
Game 6    April 20, 7:30 pm    Steve Kerr 
Game 7    April 21, 7:30 pm    Western Fair

I hope you all enjoy the next two weeks and I’ll see you again for the Sutherland Cup Finals!

Stacy
@TheRocketGirl16