Last season, the Brantford Bulldogs finished in first-place in the Eastern Conference with a total of 93 points.
After handling the North Bay Battalion in the first round of the playoffs, winning the series 4-1, the Bulldogs lost in six to the Oshawa Generals in the second round.
This time around, the Bulldogs enter the playoffs having posted a more-dominant regular season, recording over 100 points while finishing in first in the Eastern Conference once again. Not only that, but they're seen as the team that is most likely to win it all come the end of the playoffs.
But it's not just the standings where one can see the dominance of this Bulldogs team. The Bulldogs are first in goals scored and in power play percentage while sitting sixth in the penalty kill. The team also gives up the third-fewest goals and the second-fewest among the East's top-three teams (a list that also includes the Ottawa 67's and Barrie Colts).
For the Sudbury Wolves, a slow start forced the team to turn their season around and quickly. However, despite a 4-15-1-0 (wins, losses, overtime losses, shootout losses) start to the season, Sudbury was able to put up a 22-23-5-3 run over their next 53 games to secure the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and ensure that the struggling Oshawa Generals and the on-and-off Brampton Steelheads couldn't finish ahead of them.
Despite a somewhat-solid season, is Brantford too much for Sudbury?
In considering the four matchups played between the two teams this season, it's possible to see that Brantford has dominated Sudbury in almost every statistical category.
The four matchups all went Brantford's way, with three of the four games being decided by more than one goal; the combined scoreline was a whopping 22-6 in favour of the Bulldogs. It's also worth noting that two of the four games were shutouts, with the combined scoreline in those two games being 10-0.
That said, there are a few areas in which Sudbury could put up a fight. The Bulldogs do have the better penalty kill, however the edge is, at best, minimal. Brantford's penalty kill sits at 80.4%, while Sudbury's is only one percent behind at 79.3%. Though the fact that the Bulldogs have the best power play may offset the aforementioned statement, it might not necessarily give them that much more of an advantage when all is said and done.
In terms of shots on goal, only one of the four matchups saw Brantford win the shot count; that game saw the Bulldogs put up eighteen shots more than the Wolves. Two of the remaining three matchups saw the teams tied on shots while the other game, a 5-4 overtime win for the Bulldogs, saw the Wolves win the shots on goal category by one.
Final prediction: Bulldogs in five
While a sweep is a very likely possibility here, there's a considerable chance that Sudbury can steal a game and make this a series.
That said, if Sudbury is to even have a chance at winning a game in this series, they have to find a way to continue creating scoring chances and getting pucks towards the goalie. In addition, the Wolves must ensure that Brantford can only beat them at even strength; time has shown that if the Bulldogs get their chances on the power play, they will convert them sooner rather than later.
I could see a world in which Sudbury starts the series competitively and takes one of the first three games, but Brantford should pull away and advance with relative ease.