Written By Brian Lockhart

Fans of Junior C hockey in Ontario have plenty to look forward to as the Provincial Junior Hockey League moves into the semi-final round of playoffs.

Locally, the battle for the North Carruthers Division championship is shaping up to provide a lot of very exciting playoff action that will see some very evenly matched teams on the ice.

This year the season was extended into March after the January shutdown so teams could get in 30 games to complete the final standings.

All eight teams in the Division entered the quarter-final round at the end of the regular season.

When the quarter-finals ended, all the favoured teams came out on top with few surprises during the series.

The Stayner Siskins won their quarter-final over the Huntsville Otters in three games after Huntsville had to withdraw from competition. The Otters had a run of COVID-19 on their team making it impossible for them to complete the next game within regulation time.

The Otters forfeited and bowed out of the season.

The Alliston Hornets managed to eliminate the Penetang Kings in four games, although they had to work hard to get the job done. The Hornets won by a single goal in three of the games and game four went into overtime.

The Orillia Terriers have dispatched the Midland Flyers after a series that went four games.

The Caledon Golden Hawks and Schomberg Cougars had their series go six games after Caledon put up a good effort.

That series ended with a 4-1 win in game six on March 18.

The four remaining teams will now enter the semi-final round to determine who will go to the championship.

Stayner finished in first place in the regular season. Alliston, Schomberg, and Orillia finished a single point apart in the standings so there's going to be some evenly match teams on the ice.

Stayner and Alliston will be up against each other for their series. Orillia and Schomberg will battle for the win in their best-of-seven effort.

The winners will meet in the final for the Division title.

After the Division championships, the remaining teams will enter into competition for the Conference title.

Due to the extended regular season this year, the Schmalz Cup championship will be played in a tournament style.

The tournament will feature the four conference champions in a round-robin format to determine rankings for the semi-finals to be played on May 14.

The championship final game will take place on Sunday, May 15.

The tournament will be held on the ice at the University of Guelph.