OHL playoff preview: Hamilton Bulldogs go all-in for championship

As general manager of the Hamilton Bulldogs, Steve Staios is loath to compare his team this season to the one he guided to an Ontario Hockey League championship and a Memorial Cup appearance in 2018. But he will make one concession in that he owed it to both teams to swing for the fences at the trade deadline.

And that is exactly what he did. In 2018, Staios made a flurry of moves, the most noteworthy of which was getting Robert Thomas from the London Knights in a blockbuster trade for Connor McMichael, four second-round picks and a third-round pick. The Bulldogs went on to win the OHL title, and Thomas won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues the next season as a rookie.

In the space of five days this season, Staios once again did a major roster renovation, getting centres Mason McTavish and Giordano Biondi, and defenceman Arber Xhekaj in three separate deals that sent out three roster players and 12 draft picks. McTavish, the Anaheim Ducks’ third overall pick in 2021, might be the best player in major junior hockey and is expected to replace Ryan Getzlaf in Anaheim as early as next season. Xhekaj, an overage blueliner, signed an entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens after attending their training camp as a free agent.

The moves helped propel an already strong Bulldogs team to the top of the OHL’s regular-season standings going into the league’s first playoffs since 2019. The Bulldogs open Thursday night at home against the Peterborough Petes. Hopes and expectations are high that the Bulldogs will not only repeat their 2018 league championship, but win the Memorial Cup, which is scheduled for June 20-29 in Saint John, N.B.

“In 2018, the team showed me this incredible desire and passion and work ethic and togetherness, those unquantifiable things a manager looks at more than goals and assists,” Staios said. “And that was a huge driving force. They showed me they deserved an opportunity and I was going to have to do my job to help support that. And it was the same with this group.”

Even with McTavish in the lineup, the Bulldogs represent a triumph of the collective. Entering the final weekend of play, the Bulldogs had only two scorers in the top 25, but were also one of the top-scoring teams in the league and clearly the best defensively. Goalie Marco Costantini posted the OHL’s best save percentage and goals-against average.

“It’s a great group of kids who are incredibly coachable and they all work,” said Bulldogs coach Jay McKee. “I don’t have to pull guys aside and constantly say we need more focus or more effort. It’s a group that just loves to work and loves to be on the ice.”

There are a number of players who embody that culture, nobody more than centre Logan Morrison, a top-10 scorer this season with 100 points, who has been ignored in two straight NHL drafts. Last year, when NHL teams were picking OHL players with no point of reference because the season was cancelled, was particularly difficult. But the Bulldogs have a number of players in that situation. Morrison’s linemate, right-winger Avery Hayes, also went through last year’s draft without being chosen. Overage defenceman Nathan Staios, the GM’s son, finished first in scoring among defencemen and has gone unselected in three drafts.

Part of the motivation this season, Morrison acknowledged, is for those Bulldogs who haven’t been drafted to prove people wrong.

“Yeah, 100 per cent that’s the case,” said Morrison, who went to the Los Angeles Kings’ training camp as a free agent. “We have a lot of guys on our team that have gone unnoticed over the past two years, so there are a lot of statements being made this year. We’re all playing with a chip on our shoulders for sure.”

That’s not to say the Bulldogs are bereft of NHL picks. Along with McTavish, defenceman Artem Grushnikov was taken in the second round by the Dallas Stars and centre Ryan Winterton in the third round by the Seattle Kraken in 2021, while centre Jan Mysák went in the second round to the Canadiens in 2020.

From the fourth-liners to the top players, the Bulldogs are focused and committed.

“The other day we had a practice at 10:15,” McKee said. “And at 9:35, McTavish was asking when he could go on the ice.”

OHL playoff preview

Eastern Conference

Hamilton Bulldogs (1) vs. Peterborough Petes (8)

Season series: Hamilton 6-2-0 (50 goals for, 25 goals against)

No team has been more dominant since the trade deadline than Hamilton, riding a 14-0-1 streak. The Bulldogs finished with a whopping plus-124 goal differential. The Petes had the league’s second-worst penalty killing and were the most short-handed, but also led the OHL with 19 short-handed goals.

North Bay Battalion (2) vs. Ottawa 67’s (7)

Season series: Ottawa 3-2-0 (12 GF, 13 GA)

After a late-season dip, the Battalion finished strongly, winning eight of their final 10. North Bay is top-heavy in talent with a league-high three players in the top 10 in scoring. The 67’s, on the other hand, didn’t have a player in the top 80 and three of their top six scorers were rookies.

Kingston Frontenacs (3) vs. Oshawa Generals (6)

Season series: Kingston 7-5-0 (46 GF, 33 GA)

These teams know each other well, having met 12 times this season. The Generals won the last two. Led by Shane Wright, the top prospect for the NHL draft, the Frontenacs are in a win-now mindset. Kingston outscored Oshawa by 80 goals in the regular season, but the Generals allowed two fewer.

Mississauga Steelheads (4) vs. Barrie Colts (5)

Season series: Tied 4-4-0 (each 20 GF)

The two most evenly matched teams in the playoffs have fallen short of expectations. The Steelheads faded after a strong start, going 8-10-2 in their final 20 games. The Colts were the least-penalized team in the league and received an enormous boost when Ty Foerster returned from the American Hockey League late in the season.

Western Conference

Windsor Spitfires (1) vs. Sarnia Sting (8)

Season series: Windsor 6-4-0 (45 GF, 36 GA)

Led by Dallas Stars prospect and OHL leading scorer Wyatt Johnston, the Spitfires led the league in goals, but will have to guard against an upset facing a Sarnia team that didn’t qualify for the post-season until the last day, but has played the top teams very closely this season. Neither team was terribly good down the stretch. London went 2-4-4 in their final 10 games, Sarnia was 2-8-0.

London Knights (2) vs. Kitchener Rangers (7)

Season series: London 6-3-1 (41 GF, 32 GA)

The Knights won the first five meetings this season, then lost the next four before taking the season finale. Led by Nashville Predators prospect Luke Evangelista and his league-high 55 goals, the Knights have run into injury trouble. Goalie Brett Brochu suffered an ankle injury in early March and defenceman Logan Mailloux is out for the year. The Knights are the most penalized team in this year’s playoffs.

Flint Firebirds (3) vs. Owen Sound Attack (6)

Season series: Owen Sound 3-1-0 (19 GF, 16 GA)

There might not have been a bigger surprise in the OHL than the Firebirds, who were led by New York Rangers prospect and 50-goal man Brennan Othmann. The Firebirds also had the league’s best penalty killing. But after taking the opening game between the teams, the Firebirds lost the final three to the Attack, who finished .500 or better for the 12th straight season.

Soo Greyhounds (4) vs. Guelph Storm (5)

Season series: Soo 4-2-0 (30 GF, 20 GA)

The Storm would be well advised to stay out of the penalty box, since the Greyhounds had the best power play in the league and the top power-play scorer in Tye Kartye with 23 goals, while 44 of Rory Kerins’s 118 points came with the extra man. They also drew the most penalties in the OHL. The Storm went 4-0-0 to end the season and have a ton of experience behind the bench in George Burnett.

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