Matchup Breakdown
#1 Georgetown Raiders season record: 37-13-3-1 (78
points)
Leading scorer vs. Burlington: Josh Dickinson (3
goals, 6 points), Ashur Elliot (2 goals, 6 points)
Goaltenders (Playoff stats): Andrew Masters, 8-3-0, .921
save percentage; Billy Day, 0-0-0, 1.000 save percentage
#5 Burlington Cougars season record: 34-17-1-2 (71
points)
Leading scorer vs. Georgetown: Ben Morris (2 goals, 5
points), Jordan Peacock (1 goal, 3 points)
Goaltenders (Playoff stats): Andrew Lee, 8-3-0, .904
save percentage; Austin Washkurak, 0-1-0, .881 save percentage
Head-to-head record: Georgetown won three of four, with
Burlington’s win coming in overtime
How Georgetown wins: Three words: ride the wave.
The Raiders were tremendous in Game 6 of the second
round in closing out the veteran North York Rangers on the road, and it was
done with a masterwork of tenacity and attention to detail that head coach Greg
Walters could only have dreamed of seeing from his young group. Uncle momentum
is a great friend of Georgetown’s right now.
As good as the highly touted Jacome brothers, Brendan
and Jack, have been this post-season, the most tantalizing thing about the
Raiders right now is that they closed out the Rangers with plenty of scoring by
committee. Face-off-and-defence-first centreman Bailey Molella was the
goal-scoring hero in Game 6, while early-season dynamo Daniel Hardie was the
hero of Game 5. It really is coming from all over the place for Walters and co.
The OJHL’s highest rated NHL prospect Matthew Cairns
continues to take steps forward, both with the puck on his stick, and perhaps
more importantly, in the area of showing some serious snarl. He is a sure-fire
draft pick if he keeps up the belligerence level he showed in Round 2.
The fascinating match in this series is going to be
Georgetown’s highly aggressive penalty kill vs. Burlington’s deadly power play,
so if the Raiders can repeat the incredible job they did in Round 2 (to the
tune of forcing the high-powered Rangers to an abysmal 2-for-30 over the
series), they will have a great chance of taking this series.
The Raiders play with a tempo and a simplicity that
Burlington has not yet seen in the post-season, either from Toronto in the
first round, or Oakville in the second, so if the games stay five-on-five for
the most part, Georgetown will have to be considered a heavy favourite.
As usual, you do not go anywhere late in the
post-season without strong goaltending, and while Georgetown’s 20-year-old star
net minder Andrew Masters wasn’t exactly brilliant against the Rangers, he was
better than his counterpart, and a repeat performance in that area will be
needed against a Burlington attack that isn’t always pretty, but often finds
way to scores goals.
How Burlington wins: Repeat the formula that
frustrated an exceptionally talented group of Oakville Blades in Round 2:
dominate in the trenches. A grind-it-out, physical series will suit the Cougars
well as they have a clear advantage in strength and size.
The Raiders are a tenacious bunch, and the older
Cougars will have to keep their emotions in check if they are going to keep
this series close. Both clubs overcame tough series’ in Round 2, but
Burlington’s was longer, and had all sorts of wild emotional swings, so keeping
scores low, and letting that vaunted power play be a difference maker, will
likely be big parts of the Cougars’ game plans.
Andy Lee was lights out in net at times in the first
two rounds, but he was ordinary at others. For head coach Mark Jooris’ men to
have any sort of shot against the top seeded Raiders, Lee will have to be the
first star, if only because Georgetown loves to throw everything and the
kitchen sink towards the blue paint. The good news: Lee has proven capable of
doing it.
Burlington’s attack is certainly at its best when
hulking winger Jordan Peacock is at the centre of the show, so watching for
whether the 20-year-old is engaged mentally and physically will be a key way of
seeing how the series is going on a game-to-game basis.
Niagara commit Zac Hermann has been superb all
post-season on the Cougars’ back end, and along with Willy Paul leads a
talented and gritty Burlington blue line. That two-headed monster, along with
the emerging two-way presence of Stef Alonzi up front, will have to continue
their impactful trends for the Cougars to keep the finals in their sights.
Unlike in the series vs. Oakville, the difference in
ice surface-size between the two teams in the conference final is negligible.
Georgetown question marks: Will Andrew Masters ever
run out of gas? Can the Raiders shut down the explosive Cougars power play, as
well as they did the Rangers? Can they continue to get secondary scoring from a
mostly unheralded group of forwards behind the Jacome brothers and Jordan
Crocker? Can the youthful, and smallish Raiders forward corps avoid getting
physically intimidated by the bigger, older Cougars?
Burlington question marks: Can the older, slower
Cougars avoid getting warned down by the buzz saw Raiders, which never seem to
tire? Can Andy Lee keep the Cougars in games? Can Burlington match Georgetown’s
tempo for a 7-game series? Will the Raiders give the Cougars power play a
chance to make a big impact in the series?
