By Evan Cooke
[1]Malcolm Subban kicks out the shot as the Generals' Nicklas Jensen (17) and Andy Andreoff (15) and the Bulls' Bjorn Krupp (4) and Brendan Gaunce (16) battle in front
After winning six of their last nine games, the Belleville Bulls are going into the playoffs with a little momentum and lots of adrenaline.
For the Bulls, who entered the final week of the regular season still unsure about the certainty of a playoff berth, they managed to squeak ahead of the Oshawa Generals into the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference. Though the Bulls escape a first round matchup with the conference leading Niagara IceDogs, they know they’ll be in tough against the division rival Ottawa 67’s.
The first two games of that series go tonight and tomorrow at the J. Benson Cartage Centre in Ottawa, with the Bulls returning home for game three on Sunday.
Though neither team has played in almost a week, the Bulls are going to try and ride as much momentum as they can from that last week of the season.
Bulls’ defenceman Adam Bignell agreed that his team winning out the last week of the season was the best thing the team could do to prepare for the playoffs.
“We’re just going to try to carry as much momentum into the playoffs as we possibly can,” said Bignell.
Ottawa 67’s (2nd in Eastern Conference)
40-20-8
Home: 20-11-3 Away: 20-9-5
Goals for: 268 Goals against: 216
Head to head vs. Belleville: 7-1
Forwards:
The 67’s boast some of the top firepower in the O, with both L.A. Kings draft pick Tyler Toffoli and Ottawa Senators draftee Shane Prince both in the top 5 in league scoring this year. Those two aside, the team has lots of depth, including 78 point man Sean Monahan, the addition of former top OHL draft pick John McFarland, and depth players such as Steven Janes and Remy Giftopolous.
Defence:
Top d-man Cody Ceci has had a career year for Ottawa, putting up 60 points in 64 games. Behind Ceci, the 67’s have a pretty veteran back end, including Jake Cardwell, Mark Zanetti, and ex- Frontenacs defenceman Michal Cajkovsky.
Goaltending:
Czech star and Red Wings draft pick Petr Mrazek leads the 67’s against the Bulls from the crease. Mrazek started 50 games, and probably would have had more starts if he hadn’t been leading the Czech Republic in the world junior hockey championships at Christmas time. In 50 games, Mrazek had 30 wins, a 2.84 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
Belleville Bulls (7th in Eastern Conference)
35-32-1
Home: 21-13 Away: 14-19-1
Goals for: 200 Goals against: 221
Head to head vs. Ottawa: 1-7
Forwards:
The Bulls are led by the highly touted Brendan Gaunce, who finished 34th in league scoring with exactly one point a game. They’ve also benefitted from Austen Brassard’s 51 point season, and the emergence of Daniil Zharkov. Also helping up front were mid-season acquisitions of a couple of St. Mike’s forwards in Jordan Mayer and Joseph Cramarossa. Though goal scoring hasn’t come easy for the Bulls this season, they have had their share of good potential.
Defence:
The Bulls have a young team all around, and that certainly extends to the defence corps. Aside from team veteran Stephen Silas, the back end has younger players like Bignell, Jake Worrad, and Jordan Subban. Though he isn’t a young guy, team captain Luke Judson has spent time both at forward and defence this year, and it will be interesting to see which side of the blue line he lines up on in the playoffs.
Goaltending:
Touted as one of the top goaltending prospects in the country, Malcolm Subban has led the Bulls in the crease this year. Subban finished with 25 wins in his 39 starts, with a GAA of 2.50 and a save percentage of .923. Though injuries have been a bit of a problem for Subban, they’ve had good relief performances by John Chartrand and Charlie Graham. If the Bulls are going to make this a competitive series though, Subban has to be completely lights out.