Western Conference Round 1: Owen Sound Attack (3) vs Kitchener Rangers (6)

Other Previews

Erie (1) vs Sarnia (8)

Sault Ste. Marie (2) vs Flint (7)

London (4) vs Windsor (5)

Peterborough (1) vs Niagara (8)

Mississauga (2) vs Ottawa (7)

Oshawa (3) vs Sudbury (6)

Kingston (4) vs Hamilton (5)

This is the first time these two Mid-West division rivals have met in the Opening round since 2011-12 when Kitchener came out victorious. Owen Sound comes into this series having set a franchise record in wins and points, breaking their previous high set in their OHL championship season of 2011. The Attack though have only won 1 playoff series since that fairy tale season and will be looking to make a deep run again.

Kitchener entered the season with high hopes but injuries put the team behind the 8 ball to the point where selling and building up assets made the most sense. Adam Mascherin became the first Ranger to hit the 100 point plateau since Jason Akenson but Mascherin along wont be able to knock off the Attack.

Players to Watch

Owen Sound

Kevin Hancock: Voted most underrated player in the Western Conference in the OHL Coaches poll. Has exploded this year with 29 goals and 54 assists after finishing with a total of 28 points as a 17 year old rookie last season. Important cog in a very dangerous and underrated Owen Sound attack.

Santino Centrome: Highest scoring defenceman in Owen Sound Attack History. Really burst onto the scene with 3 goals in 5 games in a 2014 first round loss to the Soo. His game has grown every year peaking this season with 60+ assists and 70+ points.

Kitchener Rangers

Adam Mascherin: I have been a fan of Mascherin's since he was an underaged AP with the Georgetown Raiders in the OJHL. Milton would throw out an all overage line against led by Jeremy Goetzmann hacking and slashing him but all Adam would do is put up points in helping his team to the Sweep. He has continued that development and is now an elite offensive OHL piece.

Giovanni Vallati: The Rangers 1^st round pick in 2016 Vallati is one of many very exciting '99/'00 born players on this Rangers team. With the graduation of Di Perna and Hora next year there will be plenty of ice time for him to make a jump. Look for him to start building momentum towards that in this series.

Keys to the Series

Attack: Keep doing what they've been doing since Early December. The Attack have a 14 game winning streak against the Western Conferences bottom 5 teams. There isn't really much reason to think they cant win 4 out of their next 7.

Rangers: Let Mascherin shine. Have Opilka steal some games. Get traffic infont of McNiven and hope for the best. Rangers might steal 1 game but anything more would be a tall task.

Season Series

Oct 15^th

KIT 3 @ OS 5

Nov 11^th

OS 3 @ KIT 4

Nov 25^th

OS 6 @ KIT 2

Dec 30^th

OS 3 @ KIT 0

Jan 8^th

KIT 2 @ OS 5

Jan 29^th

KIT 4 @ OS 6

Feb 23^rd

OS 5 @ KIT 0

Mar 18^th

KIT 2 @ OS 7

Other Series Previews

From @DominicTiano is his Playoff preview for all 8 series

From @NaitSayger comes his OHL playoff preview for SportsNet

Prediction

Owen Sound 4. Owen Sound has just been so dominant vs Kitchener this season that I cant see the Rangers winning any game.