Potential No. 1 draft pick Taylor Hall and his Windsor Spitfires face the Kitchener Rangers in the conference finals.

BY PATRICK KING
sportsnet.ca

The old theory of rest versus momentum will be put to the test once again when the Ontario Hockey League's conference finals begin on Wednesday.

The league's top two teams, the Barrie Colts and Windsor Spitfires, escaped from the opening two rounds relatively unscathed with perfect 8-0 records. Their opponents, the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors and Kitchener Rangers, are riding a wave that carried them through Game 7 situations just to qualify for this next series.

Both Mississauga and Kitchener punched their tickets to the final four with Game 7 victories on Monday night, making for a short turnaround against two teams sitting idle for a week.

"When you get to the third round your timing in between games is basically a day," explained Dave Cameron, head coach and general manager of the Majors. "No different here, just the opposition is different."

It will make for a quick turnaround for the Majors, who played Game 7 in Ottawa on Monday and open in Barrie on Wednesday.

Although his team will just have that one day to transition between Ottawa and Barrie, Cameron doesn't exactly need an advanced scouting report of the Colts to understand what his team is up against.

"We're facing probably the elite team - certainly the elite team (in the Eastern Conference) if not in the whole OHL," he said. "We're going to have our hands full, without a doubt."

The Rangers will have an additional day to prepare for the defending league and Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires. Kitchener usurped the Midwest Division champion London Knights in the seventh and final game of their series.

Head coach and general manager Steve Spott is pleased with his team's success, but not about to accept the mentality of a team simply happy to be in the conference finals.

"We're riding the wave right now, but in saying that, there's still a number of holes in our game that we're going to have to tighten up playing against a team like Windsor," he said.

Spott named defence and discipline as two areas needing improvement. His team allowed 35 goals in seven games to the Knights, 10 of which came on the power-play. The Rangers' penalty kill operated at less than 80 per cent in the series, which will need to improve against the Spitfires who scored 25.3 per cent with the extra man.

It was business as usual for both the Colts and Spitfires. The top two teams in the league have long since been considered the favourites to meet in the final for the J. Ross Robertson Trophy as league champions.

Barrie swept both the Sudbury Wolves and Brampton Battalion, while the Spitfires did likewise against the Erie Otters and Plymouth Whalers.

The Colts will be looking for much more than redemption when facing the Majors, who knocked them out of last year's playoffs in five games in the first round.

"We faced them a lot during the regular season and we know what they bring to the table and I guarantee they know what we bring to the table," Colts captain Stefan Della Rovere said. "It's going to be a hard-fought series and it will be a fun series to watch and fun to be a part of."

The Spitfires, too, are expecting a hard-fought series and one that will test them defensively. Kitchener scored 40 times in its series against London and sophomore sensation Jeff Skinner is averaging nearly a goal a game in the playoffs.

Windsor did well against the top ranked draft prospect, Tyler Seguin, in their last series. Seguin failed to reach the scoresheet in four games, proving the Spitfires have the ability to shut down one of the league's top offensive threats.

"Last series we tried to really respect Tyler Seguin and I thought the guys did a great job," said Bob Boughner, Windsor's head coach.

"They've got more than one good player over there," cautioned Windsor captain Harry Young. "It's a great power-play they got. We're going to have to do our homework for sure."

Too much rest and time away from game situations didn't do anything to slow down the juggernaut Colts and Spitfires last round. Both teams were able to flip the switch immediately, carrying momentum over long stretches.

As much as each team covets rest to recover and heal the various bumps and bruises from playoff hockey, the chance to get back on the ice is a welcome change from practices and video sessions in preparation for the next opponent.

"Going forward here I think the boys are just excited to get this series going," Young said. "We've had a couple of rest days and we're just excited to get back in game mode."