The Brantford Bulldogs may be the OHL's top dog (see what I did there?), but the Barrie Colts and Ottawa 67's are right there when it comes to title contention in the Eastern Conference.
It's a shame one of these teams will be exiting the postseason after this round, especially as both are more than capable of contending for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
And there are a lot of big names in this series. For Barrie, it will be New York Islanders entry-level defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson and NCAA-bound winger Calvin Crombie, who had himself a couple of fights during the Colts' first-round series against the Niagara IceDogs, who lead the way. As for Ottawa, it will be Cooper Foster and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Sam McCue, who helped earn Ottawa the series win Michigan-style, who star for the 67's in this second-round series.
Is this going to be a question of Ottawa wearing Barrie down, or can the Colts force this series the distance?
If this series is going to be decided on goalscoring, it could very well be one that goes the distance. While the 67's are the better team when it comes to goalscoring in general, the Colts are the far better team when it comes to the power play.
But while the Colts have a slightly more efficient penalty kill, the 67's are the best team in the league when it comes to giving up goals. The goaltending has also been more than capable of getting results for Ottawa when it matters most; after giving up a combined seven goals through the first two games against Kingston, goaltender Ryder Fetterolf conceded just three goals over the final two games of that first-round series.
That said, Barrie's goaltending is also capable of putting up strong performances. While the Colts' goaltending gave up 10 goals in Games 2 and 4 combined, the unit bounced back for a Game 5 shutout to close their series against the IceDogs. Game 1 was also a strong one for Barrie goaltender Ben Hrebik; he conceded just one goal on 24 shots faced.
In terms of the head-to-head series between these two teams, it's possible to argue that the Colts came out as the slightly better team. While the 67's won both games at Barrie's Sadlon Arena - a 2-1 decision on October 9 and a 3-2 overtime result on March 12 - the Colts dominated the 67's at TD Place, winning 4-1 on December 5 and 8-5 on Family Day.
Ottawa may be the slightly better team in terms of the final regular-season results (they scored 100 points to Barrie's 99), but I don't think the Colts will let this series end quickly ...
Final prediction: 67's in seven
... and yet I'm still backing Ottawa to win the series in seven.
That still means that Barrie won't let it end quickly, so I guess I achieved the purpose of the previous 45 words of my preview.
[insert gif of people celebrating]
Jokes aside, the 67's are better than the Colts in the goaltending department, and their ability to get saves could very well prove the difference in this series. Both teams should get their punches in, especially if there are several high-scoring games, but the 67's should be able to close the series out even after being pushed to the brink.