Fresh off the first West Conference title win in their short franchise history, the local juniors are now set to battle the Trenton Golden Hawks in the league final.
With a trip to the Centennial Cup national championship hanging in the balance, the best-of-seven series begins Saturday in Trenton, starting at 5 p.m. Game two is Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Arena, while the rest of the schedule is as follows:
- Game 3 – Wednesday, Apr. 23 in Trenton (7:30 p.m.)
- Game 4 – Friday, Apr. 25 at Memorial Arena (7:30 p.m.)
- Game 5 – Monday, Apr. 28 in Trenton (7 p.m.)
- Game 6 – Wednesday, Apr. 30 at Memorial Arena (7:30 p.m.)
- Game 7 – Saturday, May 3 in Trenton (5:30 p.m.)
The Menace head into the league final with plenty of momentum after having knocked off Leamington in five games – during which they delivered a perfect 17-for-17 penalty kill.
Luke Johnston (12g, 12a), Madden MacDougall (11g, 13a) and captain Graeme MacAuley (7g, 16a) hold down the top three spots in post-season scoring, while overall Milton has scored the most playoff goals (58) and surrendered the fewest goals (27).
Neither team seems to hold much of an edge in goaltending, with Menace cager Carter Bickle holding a razor-thin lead on Trenton’s Ryan Sanborn in goals-against average (1.86-1.91) and save percentage (94.3-93.8).
Meanwhile, the Golden Hawks have home-ice advantage by virtue of their 47-6-2-1 regular season – tops in the OJHL. They have no shortage of offensive depth and haven’t taken back-to-back losses since mid-October. They reached the league championship with series wins over Pickering, Stouffville and Haliburton County — toppling each in five games.
The OJHL champions will advance to the national championships, running May 8 to 18 in Calgary.
