Five Takeaways from the First Round of the OJLL Playoffs
The first round of the OJLL playoffs has come and gone, with Orangeville, Beaches, Peterborough and Whitby advancing to the final four. It will be a great year for fans east of the GTA, with the Beaches playing their home games out of Pickering due to ice being installed at Ted Reeve.
Stay tuned later today for a full preview of the second round, but first let’s look back at some of the major takeaways from the first round of the OJLL playoffs.
Athletics Taking the Path Less Traveled
The St. Catharines Athletics dropped a classic first round series to the Whitby Warriors in five games in a series that finished with three straight one-goal games. They mounted a furious comeback last night, scoring six goals in the third period to bring the game within one, but weren’t able to finish it off.
Of course, the Athletics will still compete in the Minto Cup, advancing with the host exemption. They now face a most unusual challenge. The Minto Cup begins August 16th, which will mean the Athletics will have just under a month to rest before they play for the country’s national championship.
It’s not unprecedented for teams to win the Minto Cup without winning their provincial title, the 2007 Peterborough Lakers and 2016 Coquitlam Adanacs both did it. But both of those teams lost their provincial championships in the final series, so the Athletics will have a chance to write their own history.
The challenge now is more mental than physical. For the best of us, a month off is a long time to stay disciplined, keep training, and stay motivated. For young men between the ages of 16-21, the challenge is even harder. Of course, they have ample time to heal injuries, game plan, practice and train.
But any way you slice it, the Athletics are taking an extremely unusual path to the 2025 Minto Cup.
Dominance Elsewhere
Outside of the Whitby series, the rest of the first round ended in sweeps. This could be interpreted in two ways.
On one hand, the results suggest a lack of depth this year, with the six-eight seeds not mustering much of a fight in the playoffs. Sweeps are not uncommon in the OJLL, but three in one year is certainly unusual.
The argument that I am more excited about is that there is unusual depth at the top. Orangeville has been the best team all year, but they haven’t dominated in the score column (before the playoffs). Beaches and Peterborough will both certainly be telling themselves that they are in the same class, and the results show that to be true.
I will have more of a playoff preview tomorrow, but this sets up to be an excellent second round. With St. Catharines out, there is no confusion about whether getting to the final round will be good enough. If you want to make it out of Ontario, you have to win the Iroquois trophy.
Look Out For the Arrows
It was an odd season for the Six Nations Arrows, who got out to a very fast start and multiple long winning streaks throughout the season. Unfortunately, they were not able to sustain the momentum, and eventually lost their last six games between regular season and playoffs.
But the average fan might not realize that the Arrows had just four fifth-year players this season and will return their top 7 scorers from this year. That includes leading scorer Daylin John-Hill, who followed up a massive year at Jacksonville with the sixth most goals in the OJLL this year.
Of the players above him, only one (Justin Tavares) will return next year, so John-Hill will be one of the most formidable forces in the league.
Age is perhaps the most important factor in the OJLL, and young teams often struggle in the playoffs. But with a talented graduating class this year, keep an eye out for the Arrows and their quest to return to the Minto Cup next season.
Liam Matthews is Comfortable in the Spotlight
Of all the attributes an athlete can have, being “clutch” is one of the most important but most difficult to earn. Liam Matthews is putting together a pretty elite clutch resume.
He finished last season seventh in playoff scoring in the OJLL, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. In game seven of the Ontario finals, he scored 4 goals as the Northmen dominated the Mimico Mountaineers.
In the Minto Cup, he scored 15 goals in 5 games, and finished with 27 points. That came after the first game of the tournament where he had just one assist, so for most of the Minto, he was dominant for the Northmen.
At Penn State this year, he scored 9 goals in three NCAA tournament games, including 4 goals against Colgate and 4 against Cornell in the Final Four. In the biggest moments for the Nittany Lions, Matthews elevated and gave them a huge scoring boost.
Those aforementioned efforts also make Matthews one of the most experienced players in the OJLL, and he is using it to his advantage. He is easily leading the playoffs so far with 23 points in three first round games, including 18 assists. Together with Trey Deere, he has formed one of the more productive partnerships in the history of the OJLL, and that has proven true once again.
Matthews has proven the ability to produce in the big moments. There will be a lot more opportunities in the coming weeks.
Who’s The New Guy?
Speaking of opportunities, how about the one facing Peterborough goaltender Waukiigan Shognosh. Just a rookie, Shognosh was selected with the second overall selection of the 2024 OJLL entry draft.
Despite his youth, he has proven to be very steady this year, finishing with the fourth best goals against average in the division, a very respectable 7.23 goals per game. In the playoffs, that has dropped down to 6.63 per game.
But there is no debating the Shognosh faces mounting challenges in the rounds ahead. The other three goaltenders remaining are all fourth of fifth year players, and they all spent the winter competing in some capacity for NLL teams.
Thomas Kiazyk actually made some starts for the Saskatchewan Rush and won games, while Whitby’s Tyden Redlick spent the year on the practice roster for the San Diego Seals and Orangeville’s Evan Constantopoulous won a championship as the third goaltender for the Buffalo Bandits.
If the first round was an indication, Shognosh doesn’t appear to show much in the way of nerves. But the pressure will build quickly, as the quality of the opponent increases alongside the stakes of the games. Being a road goaltender in Tony Rose has proven to be one of the toughest assignments in the sport, and Shognosh will take his turn at it starting tomorrow.
Luckily for Shognosh, he has an outstanding coaching staff and stout defence in front of him. They will do what they can to give him shots he can stop.
The results will speak for themselves.