The Sarnia Sting and the London Knights will square off in the Ontario Hockey League's Western Conference Final.
The series gets underway on Friday night at Budweiser Gardens.
It's the Sting's first trip to the third round in franchise history, and the first time the Sting and Knights will meet in the postseason since 1999. That year marked the only other playoff showdown between the two teams, with the Knights winning in six games.
Head Coach Alan Letang said it's an exciting time for the hockey club.
"It was kind of part of our goal, coming into the second half of the season (to make the conference final)," said Letang. "We knew that if we had a little success in the playoffs, we'd get incredible fan support. On Tuesday morning, there was a massive lineup outside of the box office to get tickets. It's pretty special to see the support that you get from local businesses and the fans for this event. I think the guys should be super proud and they should be energized for all of this."
Letang expects a fun and challenging series against the Knights.
"Everyone knows about the success that London has had and we want to share in some of that success as an organization," he said. "We've taken the right steps this year. I think our guys are going to be excited to get on the ice and there's some bragging rights out there for them. You want to match up against the best. They're a pretty solid team, they're a fast team and they're very good defensively. It's going to be a fun and entertaining series. The team that sticks to their structure and capitalizes on the powerplay or on the penalty kill, and sacrifices and blocks shots (will have success)."
Letang said it'll be a great goaltending duel between Benny Gaudreau and London's Brett Brochu.
"Both teams are pretty deep, and both teams will play four lines," he said. "Both teams have that high end skill up front and goaltending will be no different. So, I think it's going to be a matter of what you're willing to give up. Usually, when you give up a scoring chance, your goaltender is there to make that save for you. I think for us, we'll have to create second and third opportunities around their net. On the other side, we've really got to protect our net, we don't want to give them anything in the slot. It'll be our first time starting a series on the road, so we'll have to manage the crowd at Bud Gardens and be ready to deal with that when we go in there."
During the regular season, London won four of the six matchups between the two teams, including one in overtime and one in a shootout.
The Sting defeated the Guelph Storm in six games in the opening round before sweeping the Saginaw Spirit in round two.
The Knights swept the Owen Sound Attack, and beat the Kitchener Rangers in five games.
Game two of the Western Conference Final will be in London on Sunday. The series shifts to Sarnia for games three and four Tuesday and Wednesday.
As always, you can hear every game on CHOK with Leigh Cunningham and Patrick DesRochers.
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Game 1: Friday, April 28, 2023 - 7:00 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens
Game 2: Sunday, April 30, 2023 - 2:00 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens
Game 3: Tuesday May 2, 2023 - 7:05 p.m. at Progressive Auto Sales Arena
Game 4: Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 7:00 p.m. at Progressive Auto Sales Arena (Pre sale window April 25th)
*Game 5: Friday, May 5, 2023 - 7:00 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens
*Game 6: Sunday, May 7, 2023- 2:05 p.m. at Progressive Auto Sales Arena
*Game 7: Monday, May 8, 2023- 7:00 p.m. at Budweiser Gardens