The Chatham Maroons will open up their second-round playoff series Thursday night against the London Nationals on home ice.
That wasn't an advantage for either team during their regular season series, though.
Chatham won all three of its games in London and lost all three of its games against the Nationals at Memorial Arena.
The Maroons are coming off a first-round series sweep against St. Thomas while the London needed five games to dump St. Marys.
"We need to come out like a wrecking ball -- no slow starts," says Maroons goaltender Brendan Johnston. "The games are just going to get ten times harder this next series, so we need to keep improving."
If the Maroons are going to have success against London, there's no doubt Johnston will play a big part in that.
He currently leads all goaltenders in the GOJHL in the 2017 playoffs with a 1.25 GAA and a 0.966 SV% through four games.
Chatham Maroons forward Noah Bushnell warms up on the ice with teammate Jake O'Donnell. February 2017. (Photo by Matt Weverink)
The Maroons will also need to find their scoring touch early against London -- they only scored five goals over the first two games against St. Thomas before chasing Stars goaltender Cooper Seedott from the net in Game 3 when their offence really came alive in a 7-1 win.
"Mental preparation is big for the start of the series," says Maroons forward Noah Bushnell. "As it goes on and we get more comfortable, there's no doubt in my mind that we'll start putting up the goals like we did in this series against London."
You can hear Thursday night's game on Country 92.9FM / 630AM CFCO or by clicking here to listen online.
Puck drop is set for 7pm at Memorial Arena on Tweedsmuir Ave. in Chatham.
