When it comes to the playoffs, the Owen Sound Attack aren't exactly on the greatest run of form.
The last time the Attack won a playoff series was during the 2018 postseason when they swept the London Knights in the first round. In addition, the last time Owen Sound won a playoff game was during the 2022 postseason when they lost their first-round series against the Flint Firebirds in seven games; each of the last three postseasons have seen the Attack get swept out of the first round.
Owen Sound will look to change that narrative when they take on the Firebirds in the first round of the 2026 playoffs; Flint enters the 2026 postseason off the heels of their best regular-season performance yet. The 95 points recorded over the course of 68 games represents a new team high for points in a season; the previous record was an 89-point total set during the 2021-22 season, which also saw the Firebirds make it to the conference final.
Whether Flint replicates that postseason performance remains to be seen, but a dominant performance in the season series against Owen Sound should provide some confidence. The Firebirds went 3-1-0-0 against the Attack this season while outscoring them by an aggregate score of 21-11.
The Firebirds also outperformed the Attack in several statistical categories, though not to the same degree of dominance as seen in the season series. In terms of goal-scoring, Flint had the fifth-highest goal output at 261, while Owen Sound recorded the eighth-most goals courtesy of a 243-goal total. Flint also conceded the sixth-fewest goals, giving up almost 50 fewer than the Attack, who finished fourth-last in that category.
In terms of the special teams picture, it's actually Owen Sound who has some form of an advantage. Owen Sound's power play, which has an efficiency of 24.4%, is almost a full percentage point better than that of the Firebirds, who convert 23.5% of their opportunities. That said, Flint's penalty kill is almost 3% stronger than that of Owen Sound; the two penalty kill units weight in at 78.9% and 76.2% respectively.
It's also worth noting that Owen Sound had almost 1000 penalty minutes, while Flint's 659 minutes represented the second-lowest total in the entire league.
Which version of Owen Sound is going to show up for this playoff series?
Owen Sound's 2025-26 season was essentially the OHL equivalent of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies.
The Attack started the season as one of the Western Conference's strongest teams, winning each of their first four games and 12 of their first 18. But then the Attack fell off a cliff after the first week of November and wound up stuck in the bottom half of the conference standings. When goaltender Carter George was traded to Sault Ste Marie, the team's play continued to crater to a point in which there was a decent chance that either the Sarnia Sting or Erie Otters could overtake the Attack for a playoff spot.
But at mid-February, the team was able to turn the corner and put together a strong home stretch, finishing the season with a 7-3-2-1 record. That run pushed the Attack from the edge of the playoff picture to sixth in the Western Conference.
It's also worth noting that two of Owen Sound's three losses to Flint came during the beginning of their mid-season slump; both saw the Firebirds score six goals while the Attack could only muster a combined five goals worth of offence. At the same time, Owen Sound's lone win against Flint came during their final thirteen games of the season; the Attack used the momentum accrued from a 4-1 victory over Guelph to outlast the Firebirds in a 4-3 decision.
Final prediction: Firebirds in six
My initial prediction was that Flint would end this series with a sweep.
But then I remembered that teams who enter the playoffs on a high do tend to perform well; considering the ups and downs of their 2025-26 season, Owen Sound winning seven of their last 13 games should be classified as a high. While the Firebirds are also entering the playoffs on the heels of a strong run of form, winning six of their last ten regular-season games, there isn't really an edge when it comes to the "performing well heading into the playoffs" factor.
I'm not suggesting that Owen Sound will upset Flint in this first-round series; the Firebirds are fielding a stronger lineup that should get their way with the Attack. But I am confident enough to say that Owen Sound will win one or two games, and that should be seen as a win considering how their season had gone.