The Ontario Hockey League Playoffs have reached the Final Four.
In the Eastern Conference Championship, the Oshawa Generals will face the North Bay Battalion in a best of 7 which begins Friday at the General Motors Centre.
Meanwhile in the Western Conference tomorrow night, the Guelph Storm will host the Erie Otters at the Sleeman Centre in Game 1 of their best of 7 series.
The Guelph-Erie Western Final is somewhat historic.
You might remember in the 1998 playoffs when the Owen Sound Platers were eliminated by the Ottawa 67’s in the final year of the seeding format.
Commencing in the 1999, the existing OHL playoff format has been in place and the Guelph-Erie series marks the FIRST time since implementation that neither London, Kitchener, Windsor or Plymouth has had a spot in the Western Final.
You might not think that’s such a huge deal; 4 of 10 teams in a Conference getting to the final.
But let me reiterate, until this moment, over 16 years of playoffs, the same 40 percent of the Western Conference teams got to the Conference Final 100 percent of the time.
Still don’t think it’s an issue ?
Let me put it to you this way; I like playing craps and thus have a decent understanding of probability.
When you roll the dice in craps, there are just 11 possible results; 2-12.
If I knew I could bet on the same 4 numbers and be assured that one of those 4 numbers would always appear, I’d be a very wealthy man.
The Otters & Storm will play for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy, meaning the Knights, Rangers, Spitfires & Whalers, after 16 rolls, have finally crapped out.
I’m Fred Wallace