Round 1 Winding Down

The playoffs are off to a rapid start, and so far, they’re holding to the league’s pattern of a quick first round. The top two teams completed their opening round sweeps, and all but one series could wrap up tonight with a docket of 3-1 matchups on tap. Only the Drummondville- Halifax series, tied at two games apiece, is set to go a minimum of six games.

As expected, the juggernaut Moncton Wildcats, and Memorial Cup-loaded Rimouski Oceanic made short work of Quebec and Charlottetown, respectively. Things have clipped along for most others, including Sherbrook’s handling of Blainville-Boisbriand. Anything could happen in any of these series, but most should wrap up this weekend, probably tonight. So, is this a sleeper of a round? 

Hardly.

Of the eight series, all but two have included at least one OT game, with Moncton needing two overtime wins to pull off their sweep. Only two series have had every game decided by more than a single goal. The lone sleeper has been Rimouski- Charlottetown where the Oceanic dominated by a four-game total score of 24-3, including 2 shutouts. In short, the series score card has been lopsided, but each game has been far from it. 

Then there's the still-interesting Drummondville- Halifax series. Drummonville came in as the number one seed in the West while Halifax, at number nine in the East, only got in as a crossover due to their regular season point total being above the bottom two teams in the West. The Herd grabbed everyone’s attention by taking the first two games in Drummondville and had the upset-watch in high gear. Since then, the Voltigeurs have re-set the tone with a pair of multi-goal wins on the road and appear poised to move on from their slow start. Still, this one has some intrigue. 

Drummondville-Halifax is one of three games that kick things off in the Maritimes tonight at 7:00 AT prior to the second trio starting at 7:00 EDT in the province. Who will wrap things up, and who will mount a comeback? We’ll have some clarity tonight..