Colts host Steelheads to open playoffs tonight at BMC

High-octane Colts finish regular season with two 50-goal men

The Barrie Colts start their quest for the franchise's second Ontario Hockey League title Thursday night at the Barrie Molson Centre.

The OHL playoffs kick off in Barrie tonight with the second-place Colts hosting the seventh-place Mississauga Steelheads in Eastern Conference action.

The season record between the two teams isn’t something Colts faithful will want to look at, as the Steelheads took the head-to-head series four games to two.

But the overall records also speak for themselves.

Barrie finished much better than they did when they missed the playoffs last season, ending this year with a 42-21-4-2 record for 89 points.

The 2016-17 season saw Barrie finish dead last in the OHL with just 41 points and only 17 wins.

Barrie finished this season with the third best points-for stat, relying on an outstanding year from centre Aaron Luchuk, who finished the year as the OHL points champion with 115.

Luchuk and Barrie right-winger Dmitry Sokolov also finished with the most goals in the league at 50 apiece.

Scoring shouldn't not be a problem for the Colts, but they will want to stay out of the penalty box as Mississauga has the league's second-best power play while Barrie has the second-most penalty minutes in the OHL.

Game 1 goes tonight at the Barrie Molson Centre at 7:30 p.m.

The rest of the first-round schedule for the Colts-Steelheads series is also set:

Game 1: Thursday, March 22 @ Barrie – 7:30 p.m.

Game 2: Monday, March 26 @ Barrie – 7:30 p.m.

Game 3: Tuesday, March 27 @ Mississauga – 7 p.m.

Game 4: Thursday, March 29 @ Mississauga – 7 p.m.

* Game 5: Saturday, March 31 @ Barrie – 7:30 p.m.

* Game 6: Sunday, April 1 @ Mississauga – 2 p.m.

* Game 7: Tuesday, April 3 @ Barrie – 7:30 p.m.

(* If necessary)

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

Hamilton Bulldogs (1) vs. Ottawa 67’s (8)