CHL Final Rounds Preview

As of Sunday night, the final round matchups of all three CHL regional sub-leagues (OHL, QMJHL and WHL) had been set. With some of hockey’s top prospects challenging for their league’s title – as well as a berth in the CHL Memorial Cup Tournament, where they play for junior hockey’s top prize – the final rounds of the CHL playoffs are going to be interesting.

Here’s our recap of the playoffs so far and a preview of all three final matchups before the final six teams take the ice this week.

OHL Final: Erie Otters vs. Oshawa Generals

After defeating the powerhouse Soo Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Western Conference Final, the Erie Otters are going to be hard to stop. Their third-round opponents proved to be their toughest yet, but the Otters recovered from a demoralizing 6-3 loss at Soo Ste. Marie in Game 1 with a follow-up two straight wins en route to a series victory.

[email protected] picks up another 5 points, giving him 19 in the 6-game series. @ErieOtters advance to the finals! pic.twitter.com/i6bLn2dtfu — CCM Hockey (@CCMHockey) May 3, 2015

In his first game with the Otters after the draft lottery was conducted, Connor McDavid was charged up and scored all three goals for Erie in their Game 1 loss. McDavid scored 19 points in the six-game series (including eight goals); he now has 42 points in just 15 playoff games. Nicholas Baptiste had a four-goal game in the series and in Game 7, Alex DeBrincat scored a hat-trick.

The Oshawa Generals did not have quite the redemption in their own six-game series against the North Bay Battalion. The Generals lost 6-1 in Game 1 at home, but three of their four wins in the series were one-goal games (with relatively low scores). Michael Dal Colle didn’t get on the score sheet until Game 4, so Eastern Conference champions are going to have to be a lot better if they’re going to beat the red-hot Otters.

The @Oshawa_Generals are #OHL East Champs winning 1st Bobby Orr Trophy! Full #OSHvsNB recap: http://t.co/EE3s83J4VM pic.twitter.com/2Z5ITgiGHq — OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) May 3, 2015

Erie lost to the eventual OHL champions and Memorial Cup runner-up Guelph Storm in the Western Conference Final last season. This year, should Oshawa fail to improve dramatically in the final, they are in position to grab the league title and secure a berth in the Memorial Cup Tournament for the first time since 2002.

And it would be spectacular to see if McDavid can lead his team to its first-ever Memorial Cup championship just a month before going first overall in the NHL Draft.

QMJHL Final: Quebec Remparts vs. Rimouski Oceanic

The 2015 Memorial Cup host Quebec Remparts have advanced to the President’s Cup Final, largely thanks to their mid-season additions, Anthony Duclair and Zachary Fucale. Duclair spent the first half of the 2014-2015 season with the New York Rangers and with Team Canada at the World Junior Tournament, but joined the Remparts after winning gold at the WJC. And the netminder for that gold medal team – Zachary Fucale – was acquired by the Halifax Mooseheads.

President Cup Here We Go #Final @quebec_remparts — Marc-Olivier Roy (@MarcoRoy11) April 29, 2015

Fucale has Memorial Cup experience (he won in 2013 with the Mooseheads) and Duclair has NHL experience – both of which are intangibles that should help Quebec in their pursuit of a President’s Cup victory. Duclair has scored 16 points (5G, 11A) in 15 games so far. He is one of four top-20 playoff scorers the Remparts have, along with Adam Erne (20), Kurt Etchegary (18), and top-scoring rookie Dmytro Timashov (15).

Veteran center Marc-Olivier Roy and defenseman Ryan Graves are each in the top-40 in QMJHL scoring as well, and with so much depth, it is no surprise that the Remparts swept both their second and third round series.

The Rimouski Oceanic also swept their series against the 2014 President’s Cup champion Val-D’or Foreurs in the third round. The scoring is spread for Rimouski, but the star power just doesn’t stack up against that of the Remparts’. And though Quebec was almost bounced in the first round against Cape Breton (they were off to a rough start and went to Game 7), it’s that star power that they will use to defeat the Oceanic.

Rimouski eliminates Val D'Or and is off to the Memorial Cup. Will first face Quebec for the Presidents Cup as top team in the QMJHL. — Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) April 30, 2015

Regardless, both teams have clinched a berth in the Memorial Cup Tournament; the Remparts are the tournament hosts, and their President’s Cup Final appearance alone means that the runners-up in the QMHJL – the Oceanic – will also appear in the tournament, regardless of how they finish the QMJHL playoffs.

WHL Final: Brandon Wheat Kings vs. Kelowna Rockets

Perhaps the highest-scoring team among the final six in the CHL playoffs, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored 29 goals in just five games against the Calgary Hitmen in the third round… that’s pretty ridiculous. They won the first game 9-4 before scoring eight goals in each of the final two games of the series – including one game in which they had eight different goal-scorers.

The Wheat Kings are led by forwards Morgan Klimchuk, John Quenneville and Jayce Hawryluk on offense, as well as 2015 draft prospects Ryan Pilon and Ivan Provorov on defense. However, the Hitmen were not an easy write-off despite the fact that they only won one game. With No. 2 playoff leading scorer Adam Tambellini, 2014 sixth overall pick/2015 WJC Team Canada gold medalist Jake Virtanen, highest-scoring defender Travis Sanheim and top defense prospect Keegan Kanzig on the roster, Calgary was very capable of defeating the powerhouse Wheat Kings.

It's official: The #BWK will take on Kelowna in the #WHL Finals! Series kicks off in #bdnmb on Friday Night! #TheTimeIsNow — Brandon Wheat Kings (@bdnwheatkings) May 4, 2015

However, Brandon’s depth was too much for the Hitmen, and that may prove to be the case in the final round against the Rockets as well. But Kelowna has only lost one game by more than one goal in the entire playoffs so far – an indication that their balanced scoring is backed by solid defense and goaltending. The Rockets are filled with star power: Nick Merkley, Leon Draisaitl, Rourke Chartier, Tyson Baillie, Josh Morrissey and Madison Bowey are all top players on the roster for Kelowna.

With four top-20 playoff scorers (including three who have scored 20 points or more), Kelowna’s depth is going to make for Brandon’s biggest challenge yet.

To recap – in the QMJHL it's Quebec vs Rimouski, the OHL has Erie vs Oshawa and in the WHL it's Kelowna vs Brandon. — Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) May 4, 2015