London Knights set to open OHL playoffs against Flint Firebirds

If you were able to rewind time back to late August of 2023 you would find something very interesting inside Budweiser Gardens.

On Aug. 31, players from the London Knights began to walk through the doors to begin training camp.

The atmosphere at a camp normally begins with a summer feel.

This one didn’t.

The looks on the faces of the players were more November or December. They were focused like it was a game day.

“The day everybody showed up it just seemed like we were waiting for playoffs to start,” remembers Knights defenceman Sam Dickinson.

And why not?

The roster had a dozen returnees who are still on the roster who knew the feeling of getting close to a championship.

London wound up two wins short in the OHL final against Londoner Michael Simpson and the Peterborough Petes.

Less than a month later Simpson would walk through those same Budweiser Gardens doors to join the Knights on what the back of his mask calls his “Hometown tour.”

Sixty-eight games saw London finish first overall in the OHL standings, lead the league in goals for, goals against, and power-play and penalty-killing percentages and have nine players score at least 20 goals.

Throw in a team streak that saw the Knights go 21-0-0-2 and an individual streak from Easton Cowan in which he picked up at least one point in 36 consecutive games and the 2023-24 regular season will be remembered for a long time.

Now London looks to get back to where they were a little less than a year ago and then to find a way to go two steps further.

Knights vs. Firebirds

London and Flint met four times during the regular season.

The Firebirds won the first game by a 7-4 score. That Flint team had Gavin Hayes and Braeden Kressler on its roster for that game and they will not have either one for Game 1 against the Knights. Hayes was traded to Sault Ste. Marie and Kressler went to Ottawa but the players Flint received in return have become impact players for their team.

Connor Clattenburg and Alex Kostov are both playing more minutes than they did for the Greyhounds and Kostov has shown his ability to play physically.

Gavin Ewles came over from the 67’s and has found a role as a puck mover on the blue line. Roberto Mancini was acquired from the Firebirds’ biggest rival in Saginaw and has given skill and experience to the Flint blue line.

The Firebirds also acquired overage forward Oliver Peer from Windsor and he has played top-line minutes.

Flint can play physically and then rely on game-breakers like Anaheim Ducks prospect Coulson Pitre and Nolan Dann to create offence.

In goal, Nathan Day once backed up for the Knights for a game against Saginaw in the 2021-22 season as the OHL played games during the pandemic. Day is a sixth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers and can get hot.

On defence, Blake Smith provides size and toughness and Tristan Bertucci is a top-end defender and Dallas Stars draft pick.

There are even some family ties. Matthew Jenken is from Ilderton and came up through the Elgin-Middlesex system. His brother Noah is a draft pick of London’s and had an excellent year with the Strathroy Rockets.

The matchup is one versus eight and the Knights go in as the favourite.

They have the experience and the regular-season statistics on their side.

Now they drop the puck and we get to find out what happens.

Series schedule

Game 1: Friday, March 29 – Flint at London, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, March 31 – Flint at London, 2 p.m.
Game 3: Tuesday, April 2 – London at Flint, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Thursday, April 4 – London at Flint, 7 p.m.
Game 5: Friday, April 5 – Flint at London, 7 p.m.*
Game 6: Sunday, April 7 – London at Flint, 4 p.m.*
Game 7: Tuesday, April 9 – Flint at London, 7 p.m.*

*-if necessary