Then there were 4. After another exciting edition of the ODBHL first round, we are going forward with the 4 remaining teams. The odds were with 3 of the teams advancing but there also was 1 upset.
Starting in the Lemieux conference we saw the Oronocto Senators coming into their own, beating the Miramichi Moose in 5 games. After a season where we saw the Sens improve once again finishing second overall in the standings, there were some high expectations. This was a series where the top line of Matthews, Thomas and Auston Matthews provided most of the offence required to overpower the young Moose team whose lack of goaltending and experience was exposed. It was also a great showcase for young superstar goaltender Spencer Knight to show why he is a Curtis Joseph Trophy finalist this season. In the other first round Lemieux conference we saw a talented but gritty South Esk Scotsmen team take advantage of some great bounces and untimely injuries suffered by the Cains River Blues. The Sou were the favoured team, however very few would have said this series would be closed out within 5 games. This sets up a real barn burner of a series between The South Esk Scotsmen and the Oromocto Senators. This series features the top 2 teams from the Lemieux conference, both backstopped by young superstar goalies in the aforementioned Knight versus Askarov.
The Gretzky Conference is where we see the real shocker. The Dorchester Devils managed to shut down the Moncton Melons and in the process limited league leading scorer Jack Hughes to under 4 percent shooting. The combination of tight defence, exceptional goaltending from Samsonov and balanced scoring across the whole team led Dorchester to beating the favoured Moncton Melons in 7 games. In the other Gretzky Conference match up we saw the Barbarian Trophy Saint John Barbarians show up to play. The series for the hometown Kings started out pretty bleak with the Alberty County Renegades who stunned the heavy favourites with decisive victory in game 1. It seemed to be what the sleeping giant needed though to wake them up and storm back wheeling off 4 straight wins setting us up for what could be a very exciting conference final. Will Samsonov and company shutdown the Kings offence like they did in Moncton or will the Kings find a way to fill the nets while they leave defending Cujo Trophy winner Logan Thompson guarding the twine.
Whichever way these series go, the fans of the ODBHL are in for some good times.
Irwin P Freeley
Telegraph Journal
5/4/2025 - 425 words
