Attention local hockey fans!
There has been a change of plans for the Orillia Terriers’ second-round playoff series against the Stayner Siskins.
Due to struggles obtaining ice time in both communities, the Terriers will open their Provincial Junior Hockey League second-round series tonight on ‘home’ ice - at the Rama MASK.
Stayner, by virtue of finishing three points ahead of the Terriers in the regular-season standings, earned home-ice advantage in their series against Orillia.
Originally, the plans were for the teams to open the series Thursday in Stayner.
However, Terriers GM Andrew McDonald said the game will instead be played tonight at 8 p.m. in Rama.
No matter where the game is played, it will be a bitter battle between two rivals that are, statistically, very evenly matched.
“Stayner has gotten the better of us this season, but we got out of the first round relatively injury-free,” said McDonald. “This will be one tough series.”
Orillia finished the regular season in third place in the Carruthers Division after compiling a 25-14-0-3 regular-season record. The Stayner Siskins finished in second place, thanks to a 28-14-0 record.
The Siskins enter the series red-hot; they swept the Midland Flyers in four straight games in the opening round.
The Terriers, on the other hand, had to battle back from a 2-0 series deficit to win a hard-fought seven-game first-round series against Schomberg - a team that finished 25 points behind them in the regular-season standings.
After tonight’s game in Rama, the series then shifts to Stayner for Game 2 (Thursday) and Game 3 (Sunday).
Game 4 will be back in Orillia, at Rotary Place, on Tuesday, March 3. A fifth game, if necessary, would be played in Stayner March 5, with a sixth game in Orillia March 7. In needed, a seventh game would be played in Stayner March 8.
