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The final round of play in the OHA playoffs begins this Sunday! A powerhouse Curse team that has been in top form all season vs. a sleeping dragon in the form of Cancel who have come to life in the postseason. Who will win and who will go home? 

*Disclaimer: The Media Team will be changing the Power Ranking format for playoffs. We will not be doing Power Grid, 3 Star, POTW, or long-reads during playoffs. There will be an MVP prediction in the final week of play as well as a deep-dive into the cup finalists. Thistle and I thank you for reading all season long, good luck in playoffs! 

Tale of the Tape:

While both teams are seemingly evenly matched heading into the final round of play, there are areas where one team succeeds and the other falters. Tale of the Tape will take a deep dive into the performance of both teams this season and analyze the most likely outcome based on results.

The Curse (41-6-5) v. Cancel (37-14-1)

Special Teams: 

The Curse have played exceedingly well on special teams this season, better than that of their counterpart Cancel. The Curse performed well when down a man as their PK clipped at 79.5 % while Cancel performed slightly worse coming in at 74.2 %. While both teams performed admirably on the power play, Curse gets the nod here as they notched a 35.9 % on the man advantage while Cancel saw their power play succeed just a single percent less at 34.9 %. 

Verdict: If the final series came down to special teams both would likely welcome it, but there is a slight winner here. Advantage Curse. 

Offense: 

It would be fair to say that simply calling both teams high-powered in this regard would be a vast understatement. The Curse boast one of the most bombastic offenses in OHA history with aggressive Omahas flying fast and freely. Cancel meanwhile, take a more reserved approach and methodically beat their opponent by breaking down defenses with fast-paced puck movement. The Curse scored 257 goals this season while Cancel scored 289, the latter coming in less games.

Verdict: Cancel play a more realistic style of hockey and score more often than their opponent. Advantage: Cancel

Defense:

The Curse and Cancel are both good teams but make no mistake, neither rely on their defense to win games. That is not to say their defense is bad, far from it actually, but both teams rely primarily on their high-scoring / high-energy offenses and utilize their defenses to bail them out. 

Verdict: Both teams will prioritize offense and for that reason it would be unfair to crown a winner.

No Advantage / toss-up. 

Goaltending:

The great eraser in any series, the goalie. While both teams boast a strong tandem between the pipes, it is difficult to imagine goaltenders playing a major factor in this series in large part due to the strong offenses on both sides. The goal difference between these two teams is minimal, Curse allowed 151 GA and Cancel allowed 154 GA; A three goal difference in roughly the same amount of games is unlikely to matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Verdict:

Complete toss-up.

The Final Score:

So who does the OHA media think will come out on top during this clash of the titans?

Synergy: The Curse are winning this series. I think Cancel are a great team and they’ve proved me wrong to this point, but when push comes to shove I think they fall just short. I do think it’ll be a close series, maybe even featuring a game seven, but it’s hard to imagine the Curse losing this one. It’s Homies ice, we’re just skating on it. 

Thistle: Team Cancel. Coming off a nearly perfect playoff run and dominating the stats leaderboard, my clear cut favorite to win is Team Cancel. Additionally they didn't get taken to 6 games by the bottom seed team. This should be one of the biggest skill matchups of any recent OHA Finals. Fireworks incoming!