Bobby Orr Trophy up for grabs as Oshawa Generals reach eastern conference finals

The Oshawa Generals will play for the trophy named after the club’s greatest star when they host the North Bay Battalion in the opening game of the Eastern Conference finals Friday, with the Bobby Orr Trophy and a berth in the Ontario Hockey League final at stake.

Owen Griffin’s first career playoff goal was the winner last Thursday as Oshawa completed a four-game second-round sweep of the Ottawa 67s with a 4-1 victory.

That game followed a 4-3 overtime win in game three, with Connor Lockhart playing hero; a 6-1 thrashing of the 67s in game two (with Beckett Sennecke scoring twice, including a highlight-reel goal where he danced around two defenders before beating Ottawa goalie Colin MacKenzie) and a 4-3 win in the opener, with Calum Ritchie scoring twice and Dylan Roobroeck adding four points.

The second round series came after Oshawa ran into a hot goaltender in Sam Hillebrandt as the eighth-seeded Barrie Colts extended the opening round series to six games.

Oshawa’s big line of Roobroeck (7-9-16), Sennecke (6-9-15) and Ritchie (4-9-13) have powered the offence through two rounds, while Jacob Oster sports an 8-2 record and a sparkling 1.91 goals-against-average and a .933 save percentage to steady the team at the other end of the ice.

Oshawa and North Bay – which finished the regular season just two points behind the Generals for the top spot in the conference – split their season series, with North Bay winning 5-2 in Oshawa October 15 and the Generals returning the favour in North Bay on New Year’s Eve, winning 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Roobroeck.

Game time Friday at the Tribute Centre is 7:35 p.m.