Colts, Generals might be on collision course on the playoff undercard: OHL Eastern Conference second-round preview

If the Western Conference is about strong ensembles, then the Eastern Conference is about star vehicles.

An impact star can influence the direction of a series much more in the OHL's junior varsity circuit. The Barrie Colts, with Aaron Ekblad ready, willing and able as its No. 1 defenceman, and the Oshawa Generals with Scott Laughton with their mainspring, have arguably the two strongest catalysts left in the field. That's enough to build a hunch that they could square off in the conference final in two weeks' time.

Each Eastern series begins Friday; with the OHL priority selection draft set for the following morning, the league has all four rounds in action on the same night.

(4) Barrie Colts vs. (2) North Bay Battalion

Season series: Colts 3-2-0-1 (one shootout win). Odds favour: Colts 56%. Most mathematically likely outcome: Colts in 6. Prediction: Colts in 6.

Why the Colts should win: The ketchup answer is Barrie has shown it knows how to win in the playoffs. (Gee, do you have a quick key that pastes in the handy cliché?)

The Colts battled bouts of disinterested play for much of the season before becoming piqued by the playoffs, which represent unfinished business to the holdovers from the 2013 OHL runner-up team such as Ekblad, his D partner Jonathan Laser, overages Zach Hall and Mitch Theoret, 95-point scorer Andreas Athanasiou, and so on and so on.

That puts them in good stead vs. the Battalion, who made quite a task out of a first-round series vs. the very young Niagara IceDogs. The improvement by 17-year-old goalie Mackenzie Blackwood (one of two Thunder Bay 'tenders still extant in the playoffs, along with the Soo Greyhounds' Matt Murray) has assuaged a lot of doubt that was seeping into other areas of the Colts' game. Blackwood had a 2.20/.925 stat line against Sudbury.

With better puck luck, the Colts could have dethroned London in the 2013 OHL final and would have got by the Cody Ceci-Sean Monahan-Tyler Toffoli-Petr Mrazek Ottawa 67's in the quarter-final a year prior. Coach Dale Hawerchuk's clubs just rise to the occasion in the second season.

Why the Battalion could win: One would think coach Stan Butler's Troops are well-suited to a toss-up series that could become a string of taut 2-1 and 3-1 contests. Between San Jose Sharks-signed captain Barclay Goodrow and others who have seemingly been rocking that unique khaki jersey forever such as Jamie Lewis, Matt MacLeod and defenceman Marcus McIvor, North Bay can play a solid 200-foot game. Throw in the two draft picks, New Jersey Devils-drafted overage Ben Thomson and Dallas Stars choice Nick Paul, and there's a group of power forwards who can exasperate a team when its own zone.

Whether the defence and goaltending hold up is a more intriguing question. Dylan Blujus, one of two 19-year-old Tampa Bay Lightning picks in this matchup along with Barrie's Jake Dotchin, ended up minus-1 in the seven-game win over Niagara. Eighteen-year-old goalie Jake Smith only saw 153 shots against the IceDogs; his workload is likely going to jump up a notch.

What you should ignore: The fact North Bay has made it past Round 2 once in its previous 16 seasons. While the franchise's identity hasn't changed that since its escape from Brampton, it often didn't have a raucous, packed arena to feed off like it now enjoys in North Bay. Game 7 vs. Niagara sold out 24 hours in advance.

(6) Peterborough Petes vs. (1) Oshawa Generals

Season series: Generals 5-2-0-1. Odds favour: Generals 67%. Most mathematically likely outcome: Generals in 5. Prediction: Generals in 6.

Why the Generals should win: Oshawa might have battled some ennui while getting extended to OT not just twice but thrice in the 1-vs.-8 series vs. Mississauga. Being pitted vs. the Petes ought to perk it up real good.

Laughton (alias Scott "Captain Canada, but not captain of Oshawa" Laughton) and potential top-10 pick Michael Dal Colle are the best setup guy/pure goal scorer duo remaining in the Eastern half of the playoff bracket. The Petes might be able to lean on their line, but the complementary scorers such as undrafted 18-year-olds Hunter (Big Rig) Smith and Josh Sterk can do some damage. Sterk often seems able to create in tight confines. The 6-foot-6 Smith provides a net-front presence that the Petes really didn't confront vs. the smaller Frontenacs.

So Oshawa is the form pick, based on its offensive depth. Its power play also went 9-for-22 in the 'Sauga sweep, and the Petes can be prone to penalty problems, having been on the PK 36 times in their seven-game series. Those trends don't necessarily carry over to the next series, but it's a storyline. The Gens also have a solid group of elders working at keeping the puck out in captain Josh Brown, his overage blueline mates Alex Lepkowski and Colin Suellentrop and starting goalie Daniel Altshuller.

Why the Petes could win: First off, only Peterborough knows how much energy it has to fully tackle a new series after rattling off four do-or-done wins to outlast Kingston in the first round. The Petes are without three handy forwards due to suspensions to Michael Clarke and Josh Maguire (both of which end after Game 4) and an injury to grinder Matt McCartney. It probably didn't expect that rookie wing Mitchell Webb would be taking shifts in playoff overtime, as he did on Tuesday, for another 12 months. (To Webb's credit, the fourth-liner handled it like a champ.)

Regardless, the Petes are coming off frustrating a high-scoring team thanks to the D'Agger. Overage goalie Andrew D'Agostini, who "look(ed) like he had four arms and four legs" target="_blank">late in the series, is coming off the kind of series a goalie has maybe once, twice in a lifetime. Peterborough did well at keeping the crease clear in the first round, with captain Connor Boland and overages Nelson Armstrong and Clark Seymour helming its defence. It will again have to relay on D'Agostini and bend-but-don't-break D corps buying time for the goal scorers such as Nick Ritchie, Eric Cornel, and Hunter Garlent to bury their chances.

The Petes have also played as well as any Eastern team in the past three months. They are in tough, though, against the deeper and more rested Gennies. Still, it's the first Peterborough-Oshawa series in 11 seasons, so neutral observers would like to see it drag out for a while.

What you should ignore: Someone picked Oshawa to advance through Round 2 last spring. It got swept by the Colts.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.