Frontenacs looking to build on rare OHL playoff series victory

The Kingston Frontenacs have the same mentality that every regular season conference champion has entering the second round of the OHL playoffs.

“We don’t feel like we’ve achieved anything yet,” said coach Paul McFarland.

Recent – and not-so-recent – history should indicate otherwise.

As the Frontenacs prepare to open their Eastern Conference semifinal series Thursday against the Niagara IceDogs, it marks the first time they’ve made it through the opening round this century.

The last time they got this far was in 1997-98 when current coach of the ECHL’s Brampton Beast Colin Chaulk led the team in scoring. With the help of future NHLers Matt Bradley, Mike Zigomanis, Jan Bulis and midseason acquisition Matt Cooke, Larry Mavety’s Fronts downed the Oshawa Generals in seven games before losing to London in five.

Captain Roland McKeown maintains the organization’s lean track record isn’t a burden.

“We weren’t here for the 17 years it’s gone on,” McKeown said.

However, when the Frontenacs wrapped up their first-round series against the Generals in Game 5 at home last Friday, McKeown admitted it was nice to be on the other side of the handshake line.

“It was just nice to get a series win. I’ve been here four years now,” said the veteran blueliner, who turned 20 in January.

Kingston has had some near misses since 1998, but none was glaring than two years ago. The Frontenacs built up a 3-0 series lead against the Peterborough Petes, but wound up bowing out after dropping four straight games.

McKeown, Florida Panthers first-rounder Lawson Crouse, Los Angeles Kings prospect Spencer Watson, centre Conor McGlynn, left winger Ryan Verbeek and goaltender Lucas Peressini were the holdovers from that 2014 defeat.

Then-coach Todd Gill was fired and McFarland, an assistant with the Generals, replaced him. He sought to turn the page, only by looking ahead and improving.

“This group’s past doesn’t matter. It means nothing,” McFarland said.

The Frontenacs finished sixth in the Eastern Conference last year and McFarland heard naysayers predict a worse outcome entering this season.

“No one really gave us much respect at all,” McFarland said. “To this group’s credit, they’ve worked hard every day. They expected more out of themselves. They’ve kind of played with a chip on their shoulders all year round.”

The Frontenacs were sputtering along early, trading wins and losses near the end of October. That was just around the time they were getting some reinforcements.

Juho Lammikko, another Panthers pick, returned to the Frontenacs after starting the season playing for a pro team, Liiga, in his native Finland.

Crouse returned after serving an eight-game suspension for a head shot on North Bay Battalion’s Marcus McIvor during the 2015 playoffs.

Finally, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Warren Foegele left the University of New Hampshire at the end of October and came to Kingston.

Foegele’s arrival came just as the team swept a three-games-in-three-days road trip against Erie, Niagara and Guelph.

“I think that’s when the group really started to believe what they were capable of and the kind of group that we have,” McFarland said. “It’s not something that builds overnight or over one game. It’s a process. All year long, we’ve continued to work really hard and stayed humble. We understand we haven’t done anything yet. We have lots more to do.”

Veterans Stephen Desrocher and Michael Dal Colle, both 1996-born NHL draft picks, were added in separate trades from Oshawa in November and January, respectively. The Fronts wound up winning 46 games and finished eight points ahead of Barrie for top spot in the Eastern Conference.

“You make all those trades and you start to look around the room and realize you’ve got a special team,” said McKeown, a Carolina prospect, whom McFarland called the team MVP. “I thought (GM) Doug (Gilmour) and (director of hockey operations) Darren (Keily) did a great job going for it. Our coaching staff has done a great job pushing us to get better.

“Now we’re at the time of year where it really matters.”

McKeown had three goals and nine points in the first round, helping Kingston break through to Round 2. They now face a star-studded Niagara lineup that includes Josh Ho-Sang, Brendan Perlini, Josh Wesley and Alex Nedeljkovic.

It’s new territory for the Frontenacs. But like any top seed, they’re acting like they’ve been there before.

“We’re not the first team ever to win one series,” McKeown said. “We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves.”

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