2023 - 2024 OHL playoff prediction thread

[All the Answers]

‘67s 6-2 vs Gens; Gens 2-3-3 vs ‘67s. The 3 on 3 is entertaining but skews the standings towards a few teams like Kitchener and Saginaw imo. I am not one of those that consider OTL & SOL as loser points.

Edit: worried that I may have been very wrong, I checked out a handful of teams. Saginaw in OT is 7-1, Kitchener 8-2, North Bay 2-8.

Kitchener only team that has not gone to a shootout.

 

[OMG67]

Once the Standings are updated after tonight’s games, there will be five points separating 1st and 6th in the eastern Conference. All teams will have played 60 or 61 games. It is going to be a wild finish!

 

[ohloutsider]

So if the playoffs started today this would be the matchups-
 EAST
Brantford- Barrie
Sudbury- Kingston
Oshawa- Ottawa
North Bay - Mississauga

WEST
London- Flint
Saginaw- Guelph
Soo - Owen Sound
Kitchener- Erie

With just a few weeks to go it's interesting to contemplate who might play who in the first round?
Might be some tough travel in the first round that could wear a team down going into the second round.
Also I think the west might not change much but the east will possibly look a lot different by mid March.

2 weeks to go. Matchups as they stand now -

East
Oshawa- Barrie
Branford- Kingston
Sudbury- Ottawa
North Bay - Mississauga

West
Saginaw - Flint
London- Guelph
Soo - Erie
Kitchener- Owen Sound

Going down to the wire for sure.

 

[Kingpin794]

2 weeks to go. Matchups as they stand now -

East
Oshawa- Barrie
Branford- Kingston
Sudbury- Ottawa
North Bay - Mississauga

West
Saginaw - Flint
London- Guelph
Soo - Erie
Kitchener- Owen Sound

Going down to the wire for sure.

Nooooo thank you on the Flint match up. Don't need someone getting hurt or suspended if things start getting sideways between the two.

 

[OMG67]

Nooooo thank you on the Flint match up. Don't need someone getting hurt or suspended if things start getting sideways between the two.

Do you think this would turn into a Federal League playoff matchup? If so, I would pay for that stream package!

 

[HUSH10]

2 weeks to go. Matchups as they stand now -

East
Oshawa- Barrie
Branford- Kingston
Sudbury- Ottawa
North Bay - Mississauga

West
Saginaw - Flint
London- Guelph
Soo - Erie
Kitchener- Owen Sound

Going down to the wire for sure.

The east may very well come down to the last game of the season with Sudbury @ Oshawa on the 28th

 

[ColtsNLeafs]

Whats the most consecutive seasons a team has finished dead last in the OHL...? Icedogs approaching 3 in a row and 4 years ago they were second last.

 

[OMG67]

Whats the most consecutive seasons a team has finished dead last in the OHL...? Icedogs approaching 3 in a row and 4 years ago they were second last.

The Ice Dogs compiled a TOTAL of 84 points over their first four seasons….. I don’t think that can be beat.

 

[Chawbadoo07]

Hopefully Oshawa blows the Colts out in all 4 games and it brings an end to the Marty Williamson era in Barrie

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

The east may very well come down to the last game of the season with Sudbury @ Oshawa on the 28th

After the weekend it doesn't quite have that same drama - Looks more like Oshawa has 1st locked up - and Missy and NB will be battling for Central top spot

 

[HUSH10]

After the weekend it doesn't quite have that same drama - Looks more like Oshawa has 1st locked up - and Missy and NB will be battling for Central top spot

Oshawa I believe still could come in as low as 5th which is wild with only 2 games left. Sunday I feel could still have position implications, even if it means Sudbury can't finish on top

 

[ohloutsider]

2 weeks to go. Matchups as they stand now -

East
Oshawa- Barrie
Branford- Kingston
Sudbury- Ottawa
North Bay - Mississauga

West
Saginaw - Flint
London- Guelph
Soo - Erie
Kitchener- Owen Sound

Going down to the wire for sure.

Well the final week of the "what if" scenario for the playoffs matchups. Wonder how many will stay as is?

East
Barrie at Oshawa
Kingston at Mississauga
Ottawa at North Bay
Sudbury at Brantford

West
Flint at London
Owen Sound at Saginaw
Erie at Soo
Guelph at Kitchener

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

Oshawa I believe still could come in as low as 5th which is wild with only 2 games left. Sunday I feel could still have position implications, even if it means Sudbury can't finish on top

They are playing so well--even when they aren't they still win. I think Oshawa has 1st locked. And yes it could still have playoff implications, especially for Kingston who will be playing #2.

 

[HUSH10]

They are playing so well--even when they aren't they still win. I think Oshawa has 1st locked. And yes it could still have playoff implications, especially for Kingston who will be playing #2.

agreed. Oshawa's worst case scenario is ending up 3rd and playing Ottawa.

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

agreed. Oshawa's worst case scenario is ending up 3rd and playing Ottawa.

I think the Friday game NB vs Missy could be huge for how things shake out.

 

[HockeyPops]

Oshawa - 66 - 85
Mississauga - 66 - 82
North Bay - 65 - 81
Brantford - 65 - 80
Sudbury - 65 - 79
Ottawa - 65 - 77

Notable remaining games:
Mar 22 NB @ MISS
Mar 24 SBY @ OSH
Mar 24 BFD @ OTT

The remaining games listed are notable both for strength of opponent, and because they are potentially 4 point games, with the results also impacting the standings for the remaining teams.

 

[HUSH10]

I think the Friday game NB vs Missy could be huge for how things shake out.

all them still are huge. Luckily for Oshawa, their game Friday in Kitchener may not be against their full roster as Kitchener cannot move out of their 4th position and may rest some players.

 

[OMG67]

all them still are huge. Luckily for Oshawa, their game Friday in Kitchener may not be against their full roster as Kitchener cannot move out of their 4th position and may rest some players.

I think that is a great point. Oshawa needs at least one win to guarantee a tiebreaker scenario with North Bay for the Conference lead. First tie-breaker is ROW. IF NB runs their schedule to get to 87 points, that would be higher than Oshawa. So, Oshawa would need at least three points to win the Conference. NB has Barrie, Petes, and Missy left. Not an overly difficult schedule but the tougher game against Missy is on the road so you can circle that one as a potential loss.

Oshawa needs a point to get into a tie-breaker situation with Brantford. If Oshawa and Brantford end up tied at 86 (Brantford wins all three games), they’d both have 37 ROW. Then it goes to Head to Head. They tie that with 8 points each head to head. Oshawa likely wins the Goal differential equation so technically, one point gets them the division win and worst case scenario the 2nd seed.

Mississauga has Niagara and NB. So, if they win that NB game and take care of business with Niagara, they nail down the division and likely the 2nd seed. Neither NB nor Sudbury could catch them. So, I think that Mississauga vs North bay game on Friday will likely result in the winner taking home the division title.

4th thorugh 6th still has a lot to do with the above results since some of those teams are playing against those other teams. Things still up in the air. We “should” have clarity by end of day Sunday LOL!

 

[HUSH10]

I think that is a great point. Oshawa needs at least one win to guarantee a tiebreaker scenario with North Bay for the Conference lead. First tie-breaker is ROW. IF NB runs their schedule to get to 87 points, that would be higher than Oshawa. So, Oshawa would need at least three points to win the Conference. NB has Barrie, Petes, and Missy left. Not an overly difficult schedule but the tougher game against Missy is on the road so you can circle that one as a potential loss.

Oshawa needs a point to get into a tie-breaker situation with Brantford. If Oshawa and Brantford end up tied at 86 (Brantford wins all three games), they’d both have 37 ROW. Then it goes to Head to Head. They tie that with 8 points each head to head. Oshawa likely wins the Goal differential equation so technically, one point gets them the division win and worst case scenario the 2nd seed.

Mississauga has Niagara and NB. So, if they win that NB game and take care of business with Niagara, they nail down the division and likely the 2nd seed. Neither NB nor Sudbury could catch them. So, I think that Mississauga vs North bay game on Friday will likely result in the winner taking home the division title.

4th thorugh 6th still has a lot to do with the above results since some of those teams are playing against those other teams. Things still up in the air. We “should” have clarity by end of day Sunday LOL!

It's actually wild how the very last games of the season will very likely have positioning implications

 

[OHLTG]

I love how the cliche "every point counts" is actually coming true. We could literally see teams separated by a single point, or even tied, when the final buzzers hit.

 

[OMG67]

I love how the cliche "every point counts" is actually coming true. We could literally see teams separated by a single point, or even tied, when the final buzzers hit.

I think it is very likely that a maximum of 6 points separate 1st and 6th in the East. I could easily see Ottawa finish 6th with 81 points while Oshawa & North Bay finish tied for 1st with 87.


AND, if all the stars align, Ottawa could finish with 83 points (3 wins), Sudbury 83 points (2 wins), Brantford 84 points (2 wins), North Bay 85 (2 wins), Oshawa 85 (0 wins), Mississauga 86 (2 wins). That is a reasonable outcome considering who plays whom. So, there could be FOUR POINTS separating 1st through 6th! Maybe less than that but it would require teams to lose to Niagara etc which I don’t see happening.

 

[OHLTG]

I think it is very likely that a maximum of 6 points separate 1st and 6th in the East. I could easily see Ottawa finish 6th with 81 points while Oshawa & North Bay finish tied for 1st with 87.


AND, if all the stars align, Ottawa could finish with 83 points (3 wins), Sudbury 83 points (2 wins), Brantford 84 points (2 wins), North Bay 85 (2 wins), Oshawa 85 (0 wins), Mississauga 86 (2 wins). That is a reasonable outcome considering who plays whom. So, there could be FOUR POINTS separating 1st through 6th! Maybe less than that but it would require teams to lose to Niagara etc which I don’t see happening.

While I'm frustrated that Windsor didn't make it, I don't mind sitting back and letting other teams stress over single points haha

 

[HUSH10]

I think it is very likely that a maximum of 6 points separate 1st and 6th in the East. I could easily see Ottawa finish 6th with 81 points while Oshawa & North Bay finish tied for 1st with 87.


AND, if all the stars align, Ottawa could finish with 83 points (3 wins), Sudbury 83 points (2 wins), Brantford 84 points (2 wins), North Bay 85 (2 wins), Oshawa 85 (0 wins), Mississauga 86 (2 wins). That is a reasonable outcome considering who plays whom. So, there could be FOUR POINTS separating 1st through 6th! Maybe less than that but it would require teams to lose to Niagara etc which I don’t see happening.

Going to be a very exciting week in the OHL

 

[All the Answers]

2 points between 5-8. Any if the top 4 can still play any bottom 4 in the west. Never seen so little decided this late.

 

[ColtsNLeafs]

Why do you want this...? Marty is one of the most successful OHL coaches ever and by all accounts a great person. He's also got a proven track record for developing good pros. Seems personal

Hopefully Oshawa blows the Colts out in all 4 games and it brings an end to the Marty Williamson era in Barrie