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When it comes to be playoff time in Ontario Junior A lacrosse, they don’t mess around. They play best-of-sevens, there’s no such thing as a bye, and they waste approximately zero time getting down to business—the regular season ended on Saturday and each series starts tonight. (Hope everyone got a good rest on their one day off.) For a look at who’s up against who, how they match-up and what kind of artillery each team is bringing to the war on the floor, keep reading. (Apologies that this preview is late. Pointstreak was down due to a city-wide power failure.

Orangeville Northmen (1) vs. Brampton Excelsiors (8)

Game 1: Monday, July 14, 8:00 PM EST Tony Rose Arena
Under normal circumstances, when a 19-3 team faces off against a team that went 10-11-1 for a first round playoff match-up, it’s hard to get excited about the outcome. However, 1) normal circumstances don’t really exist in Jr. A lacrosse and 2) the fact of the matter is that Orangeville had just three blemishes on their entire regular season record, and that first blemish? The one that ruined the prospect of a perfect season? It came at the hands of the Brampton Excelsiors, 7-5. When Orangeville got a second crack at the Excelsiors they did get the win they sought, but by a score of just 5-4 in the final four minutes of the game.

Dramatics aside, this Orangeville team is probably the deepest in Jr. A lacrosse. The giant bleeping sound that could be heard across the country at the trade deadline was every other team’s expletive-filled reaction to the Northmen adding Stephen Keogh and Todd Hosmer to their already-impressive line-up. In the regular season Orangeville had the second-best powerplay, the number one penalty kill, and scored the most short-handed goals.

I could sit here and throw stats at you all day, but I’m not going to because King of Queens is on soon the bottom-line is that this is a scary team that hasn’t let up all season. From number one goalie in the nation contender Nick Rose to Jon Harnett and the relentless defense to Matt Macleod and the firing equally on all cylinders offense, if the Northmen have a weak spot it’s been well concealed. Look for the return of the previously injured Adam Jones, who just took MVP honours at the U-19s.

The Brampton Excelsiors, on the other not-quite-as impressive hand, have a middle-of-the-pack powerplay and if it weren’t for Whitby and Orillia their penalty kill would be worst in the league. One thing the Excelsiors have that often gets overlooked, however, is goaltender Tyler Carlson. This guy has put in over 1000 minutes and kept his GAA to 5.75. A reference point? The much-discussed Rose stands at 4.98 and the also-lauded Justin Delormier posted a 5.97. However, with that GAA in 17 games Carlson logged seven wins, nine losses and one tie. Dylan Evans and the offense will have to step things up now that it’s post-season. They’ve beaten them once, but the question is do the Excelsiors have a chance at stopping this Orangeville juggernaut now that it’s crunch time.

Six Nations Arrows Express (2) vs. Peterborough Lakers (7)

Game 1: Monday, July 14, 8:00 PM EST Iroquois Lacrosse Arena
It just wouldn’t be the post-season if we weren’t talking about the Six Nations Arrows. In the past four years they’ve locked up four league titles, and with a second-place finish and a 16-6 record they would appear to be in good shape to five-peat. But as anyone who has ever left bite marks in a plastic apple knows, appearances can be deceiving.

Only six losses in a 22-game season is remarkable, but unfortunately for the Arrows what’s even more remarkable is that five of their six losses came in their last nine games. Also remarkable? One of those losses came at the hands of the last-place Mississauga Tomahawks, who won just two games all year. Even so, certain to be a big factor in the Ontario Jr. A playoffs is speedy scoring champ Cody Jamieson, who finished the season with 101 points on 59 goals and 42 assists. If the Arrows win you can be sure you’ll find his name at the top of the points list. And if they lose? Chances are it’s because the Peterborough defense, led by Brock Sorenson, spent the game shutting him down. (That will actually be a new trick for the Peterborough D this season, with Jamieson lighting up goaltender Ryan Masters for seven points in their first clash and five in the next.)

Sorenson and co. will also have their work cut out for them shutting down the number one powerplay in Ontario Jr. A. Good thing they’ve got the second best penalty kill percentage in the league. Offensively they’ll need Jesse Guerin and Kyle Clancy to keep doing what they do (68 and 51 points, respectively) and will look to Matt Evans to keep up his three-point pace vs. Angus Goodleaf and the Arrows. Peterborough is a team that spent the beginning of the season waiting for a few players to return from school, and then spent the end of the season watching some of those same players travel to the U-19 tournament. While most of the league has expected great things from them, their 10-10-2 record has failed to deliver and two of those losses have come against the Arrows, 9-4 and 9-5. The Lakers may still be looking for their rhythm and they’ll need to find it fast if they’re going to shut down Jamieson and his team, because while they may be slumping, they’re still the Six Nations Arrows and this is playoff time.

St.Catharines Athletics (3) vs. K-W Braves (6)

Game 1: Monday, July 14, 8:00 PM EST Bill Burgoyne Arena
If you’re going to pity any team in the Ontario Jr. A playoffs, you’ll probably want to make that team the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves. Not that these guys can’t hold their own against any team in the league, but they’re going up against the hellishly hot St. Catharines Athletics. And speaking of hellishly hot, ever been to the Bill Burgoyne Arena?

While St. Catharines and Six Nations may have similar records—St. Catharines with 15 wins 5 losses and 2 ties—the two teams are opposite in that four of the A’s five losses came in the first nine games of the season. That’s one loss in their last 12 games. K-W and St. Catharines split their season series, with the Braves eking out a win early on 6-5, and the A’s ending both their seasons on an 8-2 note.

Lately K-W goalie Evan Kirk has been grabbing a lot of attention as one of the finest that Jr. A has to offer, logging the second-most minutes of anyone in his league and tacking up a save percentage of .860%. Not to put too much pressure on his shot-blocking shoulders, but if K-W is going to advance past the first round Kirk is going to have to step up against St. Catharines’ big five: Corey Small, Dan Williams, Andrew Potter, Joey Resetarits, and Joel McCready. All five appear in the league’s top-20 scorers. K-W will count on big point performances from Scott Tinning, Matt Hummel and Josh Leis and will have to bump up their goals per game by about three in order to match St. Catharine’s output of nine goals per game. St. Catharines will look to the goaltending tandem of Zacks Bowen and Boychuk to ensure that doesn’t happen.

It will be in the A’s best interest to keep the game at even strength, with their special teams stats for both powerplay and penalty kill appearing in the bottom half of the league rankings—powerplay better than only Whitby’s. Stats aside, the story of this series may end up being Kirk and the K-W D vs. the best team offense in Ontario.

Akwesasne Indians (4) vs. Burlington Chiefs (5)

Game 1: Monday, July 14, 8:30 PM EST Akwarnaro Arena
The Burlington Chiefs are another one of those peaking-when-it-counts teams. With a final record of 13-9, which was good enough for not-quite-great in the standings, six of their last seven games have been wins and this team looks to be coming together just in time for the playoffs. The Akwesasne Indians, on the other hand, have had a pretty steady season at 15-6-1 with the six losses sprinkled throughout their schedule. The Indians and Chiefs have beaten each other once, with the Indians winning their first meet-up at mid-season 7-3, and the Chiefs triumphing late in the schedule 8-6.

Justin Delormier, as previously mentioned, is a name that gets aired out frequently when it comes to the tops in Jr. A. With a .864% save percentage, he comes in ahead of the Burlington goaltending duo of Gary Muzzin (.800%) and Jason Crawford (.781%). As far as scoring goes, each team has a points-getter in the league’s top five with Akwesasne’s Kyle Buchanan and his 89 points ranking second, and Burlington’s Kevin Brownell sitting in fifth with 73. You’ll be able to find both of these guys on Paul Tutka’s moneyballers nearly every week. The supporting cast of Akwesasne will also be impossible to ignore, with Orillia trade product Rick Acorn meshing better with his new teammates every game and Jeremy and Jerome causing every other team to take a strong disliking to the last name Thompson. Ryan Learn and Chris Moulson are the second and third biggest scoring threats Burlington has to offer statistically, but watch for Kiel Matisz to score in bunches when it counts.

In terms of special teams, the Akwesasne powerplay ranks third and Burlington’s fourth. Penalty kill? Akwesasne fourth and Burlington fifth. Transition men Trent Thomas (Akw) and Cameron Mann (Burl) will find stiff competition in each other to keep the pace of the game swinging in their team’s favour. Plenty of good match-ups here in this first round, but these two teams may be as close as it gets. And looking at this playoff class, that’s saying something.

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