The second round is finalized now in all three leagues, and once again, the dreaded 2-7 matchup (dreaded for the No. 2 seed anyway), has thrown the expected outcomes all out of whack.


That, and the fact that a few OHL goaltenders have hoisted their teams upon their shoulders and almost single-handedly backstopped their teams into the second round have created some very intriguing opponents for Round 2.

And it has created some very interesting possible upsets in Round 2 as well. I’m going to pick the series in each league that I think has the biggest potential for upset, with some reasons why I believe the underdog’s bite is just as bad as its bark.

Without further adieu:

WHL

In the West, the top four seeds all advanced, just like they were supposed to. However the Kelowna Rockets, in their 4-5 matchup with the Seattle Thunderbirds, kept things interesting by pushing Seattle to the 7-game limit.

Thunderbirds veterans Bud Holloway, Lindsay Nielsen and Greg Scott each had a goal and an assist, while 2008 NHL Entry Draft goaltending prospect Riku Helenius slammed the door with 31 saves on 33 shots. The Rockets got goals from Jamie Benn and Brady Leavold, but were unable to convert any of their nine third period shots in order to force overtime.


The Thunderbirds will now face the U.S. Division-, Western Conference-, and WHL-leading Tri-City Americans in the second round.

And you know what? I’m calling the upset.

Based on Helenius, 2007 fourth overall selection Thomas Hickey, and a group of battle-tested vets, I think the Thunderbirds will ride the momentum of their dramatic, seven game series into Tri-City and split, split back at home, and then trade off victories before earning the final seventh game victory in Tri-City.

Dramatic, yes. But two good teams tends to do that to a playoff series.

OHL

This one was a little more difficult, as the top seeds in each playoff series are all dominant teams. Even in the matchups without a No. 1 seed, the Sault vs. Guelph and Niagara vs. Oshawa, the top team in each matchup just doesn’t seem to have any holes.

Then again, neither do the lower seeds. Tell me how Oshawa or Guelph is going to go down without a fight…not going to happen.

But instead of going with the safer pick on this one, I believe the upset in the OHL lies in the hands of a goaltender acquired just for that purpose, and a center who has cut through defenses like a hot knife through butter all season long.

I’m talking about one Andrew Perugini, and one Steven Stamkos, both for the Sarnia Sting.

I’m talking about Sarnia over Kitchener in Round 2 of the OHL playoffs.

I know, I know, this one is a little difficult to imagine. The Rangers have the best offense remaining in the tournament (save possibly the Oshawa attack), a World Junior Championship-winning goaltender who has served stints with an NHL club this season, and all the momentum of breaking several team records en route to their first Memorial Cup berth since they claimed the title in 2003.

But the Sting look sharp. They are led by one of the most NHL-ready prospects in years, and by a goaltender who was absolutely phenomenal in his team’s 4-1 defeat of the Windsor Spitfires, stopping 215 of 228 shots in only five games, an average of just under 46 saves per night.

If Perugini can stonewall the likes of Azevedo, Halischuk, Weber, Spaling, Boedker, Kadri, Duco…well, you get the idea. If he can stop an entire team of potent offensive weapons, and Stamkos fares a little better at the other end against Steve Mason, then the Sting are going to win this one – probably in seven, if it happens – but win nonetheless.

That’s a lot of ifs.

Then again, that’s what playoffs are all about: “Ifs,” and goaltending. And the Sting might just have enough of both on their side.

QMJHL

Finally, we come to the ‘Q’, which is entirely the most difficult to predict for me mostly because I am least familiar with it.

I grew up a Medicine Hat Tigers fan in (you guessed it) Medicine Hat Alberta, and then left and played hockey in and around Ontario for two years of juniors. But I can count on one hand the amount of time I’ve spent in Quebec, and the only game I ever say with a QMJHL team was when Sidney Crosby was playing in Rimouski and made the Memorial Cup only to be trounced by one of the best Junior Hockey teams in recent years, the 2005 London Knights.

Not a bad game to watch, but it doesn’t exactly qualify me as an expert.

So in an exercise akin to throwing darts at the brackets, my pick for the QMJHL upset in Round 2 is…

(ready, aim…)

Acadie-Bathurst over Saint John!

Now, this one isn’t much of an upset, as it is the No. 3 ranked team over the No. 2, but by the rules of the game, yes, it is an upset, and so yes, it qualifies. And it isn’t so much that I believe Acadie-Bathurst to be so much better or more equipped than Saint John, rather than I could see no other upsets in the other three series.

Halifax is the team I picked to come out of the Q, so they aren’t going down, and I love the Gatineau offense and Claude Giroux. Rouyn-Noranda shouldn’t have much trouble with Rimouski, as the Oceanic were victors over a heavily-favored team in Round 1 and probably aren’t prepared for what is waiting for them in Round 2.

So by process of elimination, that leaves the Titan to make me look like a genius! Roll on, Titan!

Give-and-Gos:

The only offense in the Memorial Cup Tournament potentially better than the Kitchener Rangers attack is that of the Halifax Mooseheads, who boast six of the top 25 scorers in the playoffs. The likes of Brad Marchand and Jakub Voracek are tough enough to shut down, but throw in such players as Bryce Swan (11 points in six games), Peter-James Corsi (10 in 6), Ryan Hillier (9 in 6), and Logan McMillan (8 in 6), and the top-6 begins to look more like seven or eight coming down on you.

Think the Habs paid attention to the CHL transfer window this year and liked what they saw? Probably not, but the Barrie Colts’ trade of top goaltender Andrew Perugini to the Sting, thereby handing the reigns to young Michael Hutchinson (the man responsible for the five-game upset of the Brampton Battalion) bares an eerie resemblance to the Canadiens trading Huet to the Caps and turning over the reins to young Carey Price, who has looked just as good as anyone has in a Canadiens uniform lately. Be sure to check out my Price blog, and be sure to check the date – you heard it here first!

Think the Windsor Spitfires are looking forward to next season already? They were upset in the first round by Perugini, Stamkos and the rest of the Sting, but they had two breakout performances by young Ryan Ellis and Taylor Hall, both rookies, who averaged over a point per game in the playoffs (five each in four games). What’s most impressive is that Hall, who finished the season with an incredible 31 points in his final 13 games, isn’t available until the 2010 NHL Entry Draft!