Barrie Colts gear up for Conference Final against first-place Brantford Bulldogs

The Barrie Colts were back on the ice for practice Monday morning as they geared up for their Eastern Conference Final series against the Brantford Bulldogs.

The Colts closed out their second round series against the Ottawa 67’s with a 4-1 win in Saturday’s Game 5 at Sadlon Arena.

“We shut them down,” said Dylan Smoskowitz, Colts head coach. “Really disciplined, really structured, the guys played together, they did it for each other. It was a great way to end that series.”

In last year’s third round, the Colts were swept in four games by the Oshawa Generals.

This time, they’re up against the league-leading Brantford Bulldogs, who the Sudbury Wolves and North Bay Battalion in the first two rounds.

The Colts took two of four against the Bulldogs in the regular season.

“A little bit of unfinished business,” said Kashawn Aitcheson, Colts co-captain. “Obviously things didn’t go our way last time and it’s the last year for a lot of this group. So we’re definitely looking at this kind of like a last dance.”

Aitcheson will be leading the defensive charge against Brantford’s stars that include Jake O’Brien and Caleb Malholtra.

O’Brien was selected by the Seattle Kraken with the eighth overall pick in last year’s NHL Entry Draft, nine spots ahead of Aitcheson, while Malholtra is a top prospect for this year’s draft.

“Brantford’s got a lot of good players, so does Barrie,” said Smoskowitz. “It’s going to be really fun for the fans. There’s a bunch of players playing in this series who, if you want to go buy a ticket and watch them play next year, it’s going to cost you a couple hundred bucks.”

Cole Beaudoin, Barrie’s other co-captain, scored two goals and added an assist in the series-clinching victory against the 67’s.

He leads the OHL playoffs with 23 points, as he and his linemates have been among the many offensive ​drivers for Barrie this spring.

“I think that’s one of my biggest leadership assets is going out there and setting the tone for the rest of the team behind me,” said Beaudoin.

“We’ve had good chemistry throughout the whole season,” added Emil Hemming, Beaudoin’s linemate. “I played with Cole the whole year and we pretty much know each other, where we are, what we think.”

The Colts will practice at the Allandale Recreation Centre on Tuesday as the Sadlon Arena ice gets prepared for the Barrie portion of the series.

The team will then leave for Brantford Wednesday afternoon, with Game 1 set for just after 7 p.m. Wednesday evening.