Petesawaitsecond-roundopponent
The Peterborough Petes are savouring a first-round playoff sweep while awaiting a second round opponent.
The earliest the Petes will know their next opponent is Sunday but it’spossibletheycouldhavetowait until Tuesday if other Eastern Conference series go to seven games.
It’s possible the Petes could play any one of four teams – the Kingston Frontenacs, Hamilton Bulldogs, Sudbury Wolves or Ottawa 67’s depending on how other series shake out. Ottawa trails the Mississauga Steelheads 3-2, Sudbury trails the Oshawa Generals 3-2 and Kingston leads Hamilton 3-2.
FollowingthePetes6-2winover the Niagara IceDogs on Thursday night, completing the club’s first four-game playoff sweep since the 2006 OHL final against the London Knights, head coach Jody Hull gave his troops two days off. They’llreturnforpracticeat4p.m. Sunday at the Memorial Centre.
Petes GM Mike Oke said no scheduleshavebeennegotiatedfor potentialsecond-roundopponents but with the Petes holding homeiceadvantagetheirdesireistostart onThursdaywithGame2likelyon Sunday as teams will likely avoid scheduling games Saturday when the OHL holds its annual Priority Selection draft.
The IceDogs were by no means pushovers. They’re a young, speedy, hard working group who challenged in each game but Hull liked how his team took care of business.
“We knew that’s how they were going to be,” he said. “We planned forit.Wepreparedforitbut,atthe same time, we expected we could win.Therewereupsanddownsbut when we really needed our group to step up, they did.”
Of the 19 skaters to dress in the series17hadatleastonepointand eightplayersaveragedapoint-pergame or better in the series.
“Itshowsyouitwasateameffort,” Hull said. “I think the players who have been around here for a couple of years realize this is a great opportunity for us and they’ve really stepped it up.”
Petes captain Brandon Prophet says they’ll enjoy the two days off but will be ready to work come Sunday. He says there are no preferences for a next opponent.
“We finished in first for a reason and I think the most i mportant thing we can work on is our own game,” he said. “Moving into the nextroundifweplayourgameand work on it in practice, it’s going to lead to success.”
He also thinks the rest will be beneficial in the long run.
“No matter who we play in the next round they’re going to be a goodteamandwecanexpecttoplay sevengamessotheextrarestnowis going to help,” Prophet said.
This is just the second time in 11 years the Petes have been to the secondroundandthistimethey’re poisedinamuchbetterpositionto have further success than the last timein2014.Prophetsaidtheplayersunderstandwhatthatmeansto their fans.
“It’s nice to see the momentum grow in the community around us and it’s pretty special to be a part of. The most important thing is we’reallinthistogether.We’rethe Peterborough Petes for a reason and the community is obviously very important. It’s pretty special coming to a rink on a Thursday or Saturday night and knowing the rink is full and we have 4,000 people behind us.”