The Kitchener Rangers return home with a chance to eliminate the Windsor Spitfires and advance to the OHL championship series. (Photo: Dan Janisse/Windsor Star)

Five weeks ago, the Kitchener Rangers and Brantford Bulldogs looked like a collision course waiting to happen.

Now, they’re each one win away from proving it.

After tearing through their respective sides of the bracket, both teams head into closeout games with a chance to punch their ticket to the OHL final.

The Rangers return home, where they remain unbeaten this post-season, looking to finish off the Windsor Spitfires, while the Bulldogs host the Barrie Colts having lost just once through three rounds.

Still, neither side is taking the shortcut for granted.

“(Barrie) is a team that has their back up against the wall, and they’re going to press,” Brantford head coach Jay McKee told our Jacob Robinson. “We have to be on our toes, be focused, be prepared and ready to play our best hockey.”

“We have to focus on Friday and try to end it there,” Rangers forward Luca Romano told beat reporter Josh Brown. “But we're ready to play seven games if needed.”

In the Brantford Expositor, Robinson breaks down why the Bulldogs are positioned to close things out Thursday night, while in the Windsor Star, Jim Parker looks at how the Rangers have gained the upper hand on the Spitfires.

Head coach John Dean and the Soo Greyhounds agreed to part ways on Wednesday after seven seasons behind the bench. (Photo: Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

Change has arrived in Sault Ste. Marie.

After seven seasons behind the Soo Greyhounds bench — and no trips beyond the second round of the OHL playoffs — head coach John Dean has parted ways with the club in what’s being described as a mutual decision.

"He carried himself as a true professional every day and made a lasting impression on so many of our players and staff through his passion and work ethic," Raftis said in a team release. "As his coaching career continues, there is little doubt he will go on to do great things. We wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

Just days earlier, general manager Kyle Raftis told our Janson Duench that ending the team's playoff struggles was “just a matter of us getting over the hump” under Dean’s leadership.

The Greyhounds have begun the search for their next head coach, with the organization expected to take its time in identifying a replacement.

Read more in the Sault Star.

Former Brantford Bulldogs forward Nick Lardis fires up the crowd before Game 1 of the OHL Eastern Conference final at the TD Civic Centre. (Photo: Jacob Robinson/Brantford Expositor)

One year after a franchise-record 71-goal season, Nick Lardis still knows how to light up a building.

Even without skates on.

The Chicago Blackhawks prospect was back at TD Civic Centre ahead of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, banging the drum and cranking up the noise for a Brantford crowd that hasn’t forgotten him.

Head coach Jay McKee even joked about trying to get him back in the lineup against Barrie.

“We only have two (overage players), so we were trying to get him in the lineup as the third, it didn’t work though,” McKee smiled.

Fresh off his first pro season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, the 20-year-old caught up with our Jacob Robinson about returning to familiar ground — and the adjustment to life at the next level.

Read the whole thing in the Brantford Expositor.

AJ Spellacy of the Windsor Spitfires tries to get the crowd going after a first-period fight during Wednesday's 6-3 Game 4 loss at the WFCU Centre. (Photo: Dan Janisse/Windsor Star)

Thanks for reading, hockey fans. See you next time.