The eighth-seed Sudbury Wolves will try to slow down the No. 1 Brantford Bulldogs when their first-round series begins on Friday. (Photo: John Lappa/Sudbury Star)

Is anyone beating Brantford this spring?

That’s the simplest way to look at the OHL playoffs as they open tonight.

The Bulldogs, owners of the league’s best record, a historic power play and 11 NHL-drafted players, have been the undisputed championship favourites since September.

Expectations are high in the Telephone City, but according to the brass, the team is built to carry that weight.

“I don’t believe in pressure,” head coach Jay McKee told our Brian Smiley.

It’s easy to say when you’ve gone 48-10-8-2 and lost just once in regulation at home all season. 

The full read can be found right here in the Brantford Expositor.

Zooming out from the league’s clear favourite, Ryan Pyette has you covered.

His full playoff preview in the London Free Press runs through all eight first-round series, complete with trends and predictions.

You can find that right here.

Soo Greyhounds goaltender Carter George hasn't won an OHL playoff game in eight tries, but he's poised for his first against the London Knights. (Photo: Natalie Shaver/OHL Images)

Carter George doesn’t need reminding.

In his OHL career, he's 0-8 in the post-season.

Half of those losses came against the London Knights last spring as a member of the Owen Sound Attack.

Now, with a deeper Soo Greyhounds roster in front of him, the 19-year-old goalie gets another crack at the Knights — and a chance to finally flip the script.

The puck-stopper holds a 1-11-3-4 career record against the green and white, and the Soo start the playoffs on the road as an unexpected fifth seed at London's Canada Life Place.

There's no shortage of motivation for the Thunder Bay product.

“If you can’t get up for a 10,000-person, sold-out crowd … then you got something wrong with you,” George said.

Writing in the Sault Star, our Janson Duench has the full story right here.

It's been 1,423 days since the Owen Sound Attack's last playoff victory. It came against the Flint Firebirds, this year's first-round opponent. (Photo: Greg Cowan/Owen Sound Sun Times)

Four years ago, a young, upstart Owen Sound team came within reach of a major upset against a heavily favoured Flint Firebirds squad.

Today, it’s the same first-round matchup — and the same roles.

Flint, already headlined by one of the league’s premier offensive threats in Nathan Aspinall, doubled down at the deadline, adding forwards Kevin He and Jacob Battaglia.

On paper, the sixth-seeded Attack are outmatched.

But according to beat reporter Greg Cowan, players are drawing inspiration from that 2022 disappointment — even if none of them were there for it.

“If they’ve been a part of it, we’ve all been a part of it,” forward Pierce Mbuyi said. “We’re a family.”

You can read more about the Attack’s plan right here.

The Ottawa 67's dominated the season series against the rival Kingston Frontenacs, winning six of eight meetings. Now they'll have to win four more as the No. 3 and 6 seeds collide in first-round action. (Photo: Gare Joyce/Kingston Whig-Standard)