According to the Tiger website this morning, the Tiger/Hurricane series will get under way this Thursday Feb 21st in Newmarket at 7.30 pm. There is no mention, as of 7.oo am today, of the dates and times of the rest of the games.

I will call the Tigers to win this one. I'm not a big fan of the goaltending tandem the Hurricanes have. It has been a problem for Newmarket, although their fans, and faihful ones they are, will likely have a fit at my mention of this. Sorry Hurricanes, you achilles heal will once again put you on the sidelines.
One other advantage for Aurora. I do feel that Coach Dupont will keep his team under control, even if he sometimes appears to "lose it" himself. Well placed tantrums deflect attention, and with his team beleiving in him and themselves, I predict will once again be in the North/West Final, if that's how they are still doing it.

Newmarket's goaltending might be a problem, but if they are able to keep their scoring up then they might just win it. They should also try to improve their defence if they think goaltending is a problem, their defence is okay but it could be better.

since when has newmarkets goaltending been a problem? milne has been excellent all year and savage has also done a good job since coming half way through?

i am not saying that it is a problem i am justsaying that they should stick to one goalie like every other team in the league. The goalie system is alright though both goalies are getting good amount of time on the ice so the system is ok.

Remind me again how many games Savage played after he was picked up from St. Mike's? Hardly a goaltending controversy to me...Milne is the starter, Savage the back up; it's that simple. The tandem is solid and will be up to the challenge of facing the Tigers once again in the post-season. Here's hoping for another classic!

It was me that indicated I thought that Newmarket's goaltending was suspect, and I still beleive that. Milne will have to prove he can take the pressure and grind of every second night games against the same team, and still be the guy. His backup, is no different. To my mind, they are both backup quality goaltenders until they show me different. PLEASE don't equate regular season against playoffs. Dupont will have his guys all over Milne early, and if he can stand up to the grind, well good for him. In the meantime...Tigers will win handily.

Newmarket's major prime-time goalies have been called upon to make 1,223 saves over the season. That's a lot of rubber.

# GOALIES GP MIN W L OTL SOL SO GA GAA SV SV%
31 Milne, Matt 30 1784:25 26 3 0 0 2 69 2.32 811 .922
1 Savage, Wayne 14 855:00 12 1 0 1 3 24 1.68 412 .945

Aurora's major workload guys have made 1,089 saves suggesting a better team defence.

# GOALIES GP MIN W L OTL SOL SO GA GAA SV SV%
1 Beirnes, Matt 22 1193:42 13 4 0 2 0 64 3.22 560 .897
29 Barton, Aaron 19 1107:05 12 4 2 0 2 44 2.38 529 .923


Wayjoy

Milne had pretty good numbers the last two years he was in the playoffs. Just thought I'd throw that out there. A 941 save percentage is pretty damn good.

Toronto Maple Leafs= Ford Motor Company

Not good enough to stop the Tigers.
Hey my prediction is only a prediction. They still play the games on ice, not on key pads.
Newmarket cannot be excited about meeting Aurora, and I don't care what the SEASON GAA was.

Tigers will prevail.

Hey, you never know, maybe I'm trying to inspire the Hurricanes! HMMM. Naw!

Contrary to what "vintageguy" has to say , Newmarket is very excited about playing the tigers!

It is going to be an awesome series, and our goalies will be the difference.
Should Barton's injury flare up again, its all over for the tigers.

Looking at the last 10 game trend, canes are 9 - 1 with 47 for and 20 against.
while the tigers are 5 - 5 with 47 for and 31 against (albeit without Barton).
Both teams played Huntsville, each other twice and stouffville canes / couch tigers.
Balance of both teams points picked up against this years bottom feeders.

So going into game one tomorrow, we expect the tigers to come out hard, having put away orangeville in three straight, and it will take a few minutes to work the rust off the canes.

it will be an exciting series, but in the end the canes prevail in 6!

As for your coach being an advantage? isn;'t this the same coach who went into the stands two year ago and accosted a fan who was heckling him? That's great composure and as excellent example to set for your players.

Finally by saying Dupont will "have his guys" all over Milne is just another example of what we can expect from the tigers leadership.

Enough of this..........let the games begin and may the best team win! (canes in six)

Going to be one hell of a series and both teams can not wait to face the other team. Last year exemplifies what happens when there two teams play. Newmarket has the edge because they have been the better team all year, but anything can happen in the playoffs and anyone can get hot. Sometimes all it takes is one in a series like this.

Toronto Maple Leafs= Ford Motor Company

..........Yes, a very important aspect of any series. If Barton's injury,(wasn't aware of an injury) or ego flares up, there could be a much different outcome.
Bear...you are correct. Let the games begin.

"vintageguy"

Barton was out with a groin injury, suffered half way through the Stouffville game on January 10th in Stouffville. He did not return until the 1st game against the Crushers on Feb 14th.

The series will be, no question, a close one. With Barton healthy, I think the Tigers have a very good chance of knocking off the Canes, if they can play for 60 mins and don't pull another tanking as they did in Aurora when they blew a 4-1 lead over the Canes in the 3rd. These teams are so close that I wouldn't bet the farm on the series, however if there is any advantage to one team or the other, it could be psychological as the Tigers have never been beaten by the Canes in a playoff since the Tigers moved from the Metro Jr "A" league to the OPJHL North. This could drive the Tabbies to victory in the end.

I think the 1st game tomorrow night will answer a lot of everyone's speculation as to how this series is going to go.

"Let's get ready to RUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBLE"

So, like I said originally, Tigers take the Hurricanes and move on.

Let the games begin.

I'm really happy to see them televised, as I cannot get to the rinks.