Sudbury Wolves hold dubious distinction after OHL playoff ouster; will Kingston Frontenacs outdo it?

When there was still a possibility of a Kingston Frontenacs-Sudbury Wolves playoff series, the joke went that the loser would reign supine as the Ontario Hockey League's most star-crossed, endlessly snake-eyes-rolling franchise.

So if you like narrative over analytics — understandable since the latter is hard, and who likes being reminded that math is a thing — the fortunes of the two Eastern Conference franchises over the last 72 hours have been savoury. The Wolves completed a slide from loading up the deadline by being sent packing in five games by the Barrie Colts, leaving a bleak outlook for next season in its wake. (Or put another way: Buffalo Sabres prospect Nick Baptiste is bound to be the most sought-after player on the trade market a year while everyone has a case of post-Memorial Cup year buyer's remorse.)

The Frontenacs, having missed on three consecutive chances to close out the Peterborough Petes and win their first playoff series of the 21st century, are giving the Wolves a run, in a matter of speaking. At least the Fronts still have Game 7 on home ice against Peterborough on Tuesday and one last chance to avoid an early spring.

It's never fair to any team's current players to shackle a team's historical record to them, whether it's the stone of the shame or the stone or triumph. The job of playing major hockey is hard enough as it is and a player's tenure last no more than five years. But it plays largely in the minds of the people who vote with their feet to have an OHL team in their city.

It's just odd the two would end up in similar springtime predicaments. Owner Mark Burgess' Wolves felt emboldened to load up on veteran players after a winning streak in December. That was the only month it finished above .500 under first-year head coach Paul Fixter.

From Bruce Heidman (@bheidmanSS):

Actually, Kingston, through its first 40 seasons, has only won one regular-season division title and has zero berths in the OHL final. The current Fronts, with surefire NHL first-rounder Sam Bennett and a high-tempo, high-scoring team, have generally revived OHL interest in the Limestone City, bumping attendance into the 3,800 range, a two-thirds increase from what it drew during its final season in the old Memorial Centre. (Obviously, some of that owes to group sales, comped tickets and new-building novelty at the Rogers K-Rock Centre, but a fact is a fact.) While Kingston hasn't won a playoff round during Doug Springer's ownership, it appears there is a renewed interesting in seeing whether that will change.

The Petes, of course, have agency in their comeback. Goalie Andrew D'Agostini is delivering a great series and the Petes' persistent forechecking seems to be taxing a Kingston defence corps that only runs four deep. Yet when the history is thrown in, it makes Kingston's three consecutive losses seem unreal. It led 3-1 early in Game 5 last Friday before falling 6-5 in overtime. It burst out to a 3-0 lead on Sunday — and centre Ryan Kujawinski, who wears the No. 17 of David Ling, the star of that one division-winning Kingston team, hit the crossbar in the second period with a chance to restore a three-goal spread — before fading and falling 5-4. One suspects people get into a sport more because of the narrative than the numbers.

Give Sudbury and Kingston credit. Whatever happens, there's a lot here for everyone's inner fatalist.

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