It could end up being the best playoff series in the Canadian Hockey League this year.
The London Knights and the Erie Otters open their OHL Western Conference final series Wednesday night in Erie. The two teams are almost perfectly matched, having battled right to the end of the regular season for first place overall in the Ontario Hockey League. Both teams finished with 105 points, but the Otters won the distinction of being the top team in the league by having one more win than the Knights.
Knights Head Coach Dale Hunter is expecting tightly contested games that will show why the two teams ended the regular season so close in the standings.
"We know them very well. We had a mini-playoff at the end of the season (to see) who could get first," says Hunter. "Both teams are kind of built the same way. Very skilled teams and very hardworking teams, so it should be an interesting series."
Last year, the Otters swept the Knights out of the second round of the playoffs. But the Knights were without some key pieces of their offence, including Mitch Marner. That won't be the case this year, as Marner is healthy and leading the OHL in playoff scoring.
While the offences of the Knights and Otters get plenty of attention, Marner says people shouldn't overlook how strong both teams are on defence.
"A lot of people underestimate both teams' defensive ability," Marner says. "Every line on Erie can play defence and I think the same goes for us. It's going to be a hard-fought offensive battle. Both teams are very good defensively and both teams have very good goalies."
There is a longer-than-normal break between the first and second games of the series. After Wednesday's opening game, the second game won't be played until Sunday because Erie's arena is hosting previously booked monster truck shows on Friday and Saturday.
Schedule for Knights-Otters series:
Game 1: Wednesday, April 20 at 7pm in Erie Game 2: Sunday, April 24 at 7pm in Erie Game 3: Tuesday, April 26 at 7pm in London Game 4: Wednesday, April 27 at 7pm in London Game 5: Friday, April 29 at 7pm in Erie * Game 6: Sunday, May 1 at 2pm in London * Game 7: Monday, May 2 at 7pm in Erie * * if necessary
