The remaining opening rounds all finished last week across the three Canadian Hockey League constituent competitions’ playoffs and the second rounds have commenced. As usual, we will run down all the activity by beginning with the O.

OHL:

Not much first round action needed to take place in the Ontario Hockey League last week thanks to three sweeps and two gentleman’s sweeps in the opening round. To cover what little there was, the Oshawa Generals were finally able to put away the Barrie Colts despite how pesky their opponents were, turning what was projected to be a sweep into a challenging six game series. The Colts ultimately fell in Game 6 by a score of 3-0. Oshawa G Jacob Oster posted 32 saves in the shutout win. Elsewhere, the Ottawa 67’s ultimately pulled off an emphatic win over the Brantford Bulldogs 6-1 in their own deciding Game 6. RW Brady Stonehouse (Edmonton Oilers) was the game’s First Star, tallying three assists and a +3. Lastly, in the only Western Conference series that did not conclude in a sweep, the Erie Otters were able to force yet another overtime period in Game 6, but just as in the first two overtime resolved games against the Kitchener Rangers, they were ultimately felled as C Lucas Ellinas (2024 Draft eligible) was the overtime hero for Kitchener. The young Erie squad led by Malcolm Spence (2025 Draft eligible) showed a lot of heart and promise in this matchup and should be excited for the future as this gave them something to build upon.

In the Ottawa vs. Oshawa series’ opening matchup, Oshawa ultimately prevailed 4-3. Oshawa C Calum Richie (Colorado Avalanche) posted a statline of 2g, [including the GWG]1a, +4 for the first star selection, while Generals C Dylan Roobroeck (New York Rangers) earned the second star via his 1g, 3a, +3 performance and Oshawa RW Beckett Sennecke (2024 Draft eligible) was third first star for his 1g, 1a, +4 game. Game 2 commences tonight at 6:05 EDT.

The North Bay Battalion have effectively neutralized the Sudbury Wolves to this point, having defeated them by scores of 5-2 and 5-1, respectively, in the first two games. Sudbury’s usually fearsome trio of David Goyette (Seattle Kraken), Dalibor Dvorsky (St. Louis Blues), and Quentin Musty (San Jose Sharks) tallied no points in Game 2. They will have to be putting in their absolute best performances going forward if Sudbury is going to mount a comeback against the higher seeded North Bay.

In the Western Conference, it’s been all London Knights so far in their classic rivalry matchup with the Kitchener Rangers. They have taken the first two games at home by scores of 5-3 and 5-1. C/RW Kaleb Lawrence (Los Angeles Kings) has made the biggest impression to this point, tallying 1g+1a in both games and taking home first and third star selections, respectively. Kitchener were the best team in the league for significant stretches this year before London eventually overtook them. I have to think they will have some comeback effort in them as the series shifts back home. The Knights were without F Sam O’Reilly (2024 Draft eligible) for Game 2 due to a two-game suspension for boarding and will be again in Game 3.

Lastly, the Soo Greyhounds and the Memorial Cup hosts-to-be Saginaw Spirit have split the first two games, with Saginaw taking Game 1 4-0 in a matchup where four different goalscorers found the back of the net (with Vegas Golden Knights prospect Matyas Sapovaliv scoring the empty net goal to ice it) and G Andrew Oke made 39 saves in his first career postseason shutout (incidentally against the same team he had his first two career regular season shutouts against). The Greyhounds enacted their revenge against the Spirit in Game 2, looking solidly in control the whole time and winning 5-2. LW Jordan D’Intino was the clear star of the show, gathering the first star selection via a hat trick. This matchup was not without controversy, as Soo C Bryce McConnell-Barker (New York Rangers) collided with Oke, removing the netminder from the game with injury and getting himself ejected. The series shifts to Sault Ste. Marie for Game 3 tomorrow.

WHL:

Two series deciding games were played in the Dub a week ago. The Everett Silvertips’ series deciding victory against the Vancouver Giants in Game 5 was covered in adequate detail via updates on our Facebook page, so this will focus primarily on Kelowna vs. Wenatchee’s Game 6.

RW Andrew Cristall (Washington Capitals) and C Tij Iginla (2024 Draft eligible) had a good amount of fun playing off of one another in this one, with the two combining for/each contributing to the Kelowna Rockets’ first three goals. This game was competitive, with the Wenatchee Wild narrowly winning the shots on goal battle 36-33. However, LW Max Graham would put the game out of reach with an empty netter, despite the Wild striking back via LW Evan Friesen’s final goal in the Dub (having since signed a contract with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, affiliated with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and AHL’s Colorado Eagles). Wenatchee would ultimately fall in both the game and the series 4-2. However, this was an impressive season. As was covered in our recap of their season, they sold heavily via trade yet remained competitive to the end. What is perhaps especially remarkable is that C Briley Wood, in the conclusion of his junior hockey career, led the entire CHL in opening round points with 13 (this includes an assist on Friesen’s aforementioned goal). With some good contributors returning next year and many draft picks now on the way, you have to think the future is bright for this hockey club.

In Game 1 of the regular season champs Saskatoon Blades’ second round series against the Red Deer Rebels, they had the clear advantage, defeating their adversaries 4-1. C Fraser Minten (Toronto Maple Leafs) was the game’s first star, tallying 2g+1a and a +2. We shall see how they follow this performance up tonight, as they take on Red Deer in Game 2 at 6:00 EDT tonight.

Meanwhile, former Wenatchee Wild stars Conor Geekie (Arizona Coyotes) and Matthew Savoie (Buffalo Sabres) have gone toe-to-toe twice so far with their new clubs, the Swift Current Broncos and the Moose Jaw Warriors, respectively. Savoie was absent the first game and Swift Current took advantage, defeating Moose Jaw 7-2. Sure enough, Savoie would return for Game 2 and earn third star honors via his 2 assists as Moose Jaw earned a 7-2 victory of their own. D Denton Mateychuk (Columbus Blue Jackets) and C Brayden Yager earned the first and second stars via 1g-5a, +4 and 3g-2a, +4 performances, respectively. With two great rosters and an exceptional narrative underlying this matchup, this should be a series to watch eagerly.

Elsewhere, Iginla and the Kelowna Rockets have been completely shut down in Games 1 and 2 against the Prince George Cougars, losing by 4-0 and 5-0 scorelines. Prince George G Joshua Ravensbergen has not been particularly challenged by Kelowna, as Prince George’s shot suppression efforts and aggressive attack have seen to it that PG has outshot the Rockets 77-37 in the first two games. While not particularly eye-popping, the essential Prince George trio of Riley Heidt (Minnesota Wild), Zac Funk (Washington Capitals), and Terik Parascak (2024 Draft eligible) have been plenty reliable. This one will be over fast unless Iginla and co. have a significant response in Game 3.

In one more one-sided series to this point, a stacked Portland Winterhawks team has a 2-0 lead over the Everett Silvertips upon 8-2 and 6-1 triumphs in the first two matches. This series is understandably in the position it is, as Everett’s biggest star forward RW/C Austin Roest (Nashville Predators), whose importance is impossible to overstate and is reflected by his 149 points in 121 games over the two most recent regular seasons, has been absent. Roest was further joined on the injury list by another four players for Game 2 and the Winterhawks have capitalized on this situation. D Tyson Jugnauth (Seattle Kraken) has been a big star of the show to this point, with 3 goals and 2 assists to his name, while plenty of praise can additionally go to the likes of C Kyle Chyzowski for his 4 goals and C Nate Danielson (Detroit Red Wings) for his 2 goals and 3 assists. D Carter Sotheran (Philadelphia Flyers) also deserves praise for his 1 goal (off a pretty fortuitous bounce, but still an impressive release), 1 assist, and +4. If Everett doesn’t get healthy for this matchup, I don’t see this one lasting very long.

QMJHL:

As has been covered on our different media fairly extensively, the Q’s opening rounds were settled pretty quickly, with only one series lasting more than 5 games. To that point, the Sherbrooke Phoenix and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada went the distance thanks to the Armada dramatically forcing a Game 7. However, their story was not to be, as the Phoenix would emerge victorious in the deciding match, 3-1. RW Lewis Gendron (2024 Draft eligible) would be the hero, tallying the GWG/series winner and an assist on LW Olivier Dubois’ empty net goal to wrap the proceedings up.

All second round series currently have 2-0 leads. In an expected series of events, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, the regular season’s best team, have the edge over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Both games have been close on the scoreboard, being settled by 2-1 and 4-2 decisions, but the Drakkar had a decisive advantage in possession in Game 2, out-shooting the Titan 49-25 after Game 1 finished level at 27-27. LW Justin Gill (New York Islander) was particularly impressive in the latter matchup, earning a first star selection by a three assist performance.

The Cape Breton Eagles posted back-to-back shutouts against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, winning Game 1 4-0 and Game 2 1-0. The story of the series this point, of course, is Cape Breton G Nicolas Ruccia, who tallied a combined 51 saves in his consecutive clean sheets and earned first star honors in both games. RW Cam Squires (New Jersey Devils), fresh off his historic first round performance, scored the sole goal in Game 2. At this point, it does not appear to be a stretch to declare Squires a Cape Breton franchise legend based off of this season alone.

The Drummondville Voltigeurs got back F Alexis Gendron (Philadelphia Flyers) after the goal-scoring phenom had missed a significant amount of time due to injury. He has wasted no time in helping them in their second round series against the Sherbrooke Phoenix, tallying 1g+1a and scoring that goal just over a minute into the beginning of regulation in Game 1. Drummondville currently leads 2-0 by way of identical 5-2 scorelines.

In the only surprise to this point, the Victoriaville Tigres lead the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 2-0 after having taken Game 1, 6-3, and Game 2, 7-6. Game 1 was a PDO dream for Victoriaville, with the Tigres scoring 6 goals on 22 SOGs and RW Maxime Pellerin tallying a hat-trick and G Nathan Darveau stopping 48 of 51 shots against. Victoriaville were out-shot again, 43-33, in Game 2, with Darveau not posting nearly the same numbers. However, they were able to pull out the victory via Pellerin having another exceptional performance, gaining another first star selection via a 2g+1a performance and RW Justin Gendron (2024 Draft eligible) posting that same scoreline for the third star. Matters did get interesting in the final stages with C Nikita Prischepov seemingly calling game via an empty-netter with 1:22 remaining only for LW Bill Zonnon (2025 Draft eligible) to give Rouyn-Noranda a pulse by scoring a PPG to bring the deficit to within 1 with 16 seconds remaining, providing the slimmest chance of tying it up. However, this did not come to pass, and the lower seed in this matchup therefore took a two-game lead in the series to bring home with them.