Ontario Jr. Reign’s Race to the 2024-2025 USPHL Pacific Division Playoffs

As of January 22, 2025, the Ontario Jr. Reign’s persistence during the regular season has put them in second place of the USPHL Pacific Division standings with 47 points and a season record of 23-9-1-0. Out of their 23 wins, three of them consisted of overtime wins and two triumphant shutouts. 

The Ontario Jr. Reign currently has a 23.27% power play success rate and has an exceptional 87.2% penalty killing success rate. Their top scorers are #85 Denver Craig who currently has 72 points and #13 Luke Cannon who has 40 points recorded in the regular season. Denver Craig leads the Ontario Jr. Reign in hat-tricks recorded during the regular season as he has secured 4 hat-tricks in this season so far. 

In regards to goaltending, all three of their goaltenders have very impressive stats which include: Domenik Mcinenly securing 6 wins out of 7 games and a 0.944 SV%; Ryan Hicks has securing 7 wins out of 8 games and a 0.928 SV%; and Josh Henson securing 4 wins in 7 games he played and 0.864 SV%. 

Looking at what is left of the regular season, the Ontario Jr. Reign have 13 games left in the regular season which consists of: 

• A game series against the Ventura Vikings (7th place, 23 PTS, 10-22-2-1) on January 25, 2025.

  • Previous meetings this season: OJR have won all 5 games against VNV (5-0)

  • Prediction: OJR will sweep VNV in this game as in the past, they have dominated VNV in regards to puck possession (226 SOG vs 138 SOG) and in overall goal scoring (43 G vs 20 G). 

• A three-game series against the Lake Tahoe Lakers (1st place, 53 PTS, 26-10-1-0) on January 31- February 2, 2025 

  • Previous meetings this season: OJR have won both games against LTL (2-0)

  • Prediction: OJR may win against LTL in this three-game series as they have maintained puck possession (91 SOG vs 79 SOG). However, it will all come down to goaltending as LTL has had more successful power play opportunities (11.1% PP vs 7.70% PP) compared to OJR. Game 1 against one another fully went in OJR’s favor and Game 2 resulted in an OJR overtime win. Due to how close the last game went, we can expect an intense matchup ahead.

• A two-game series against the Fresno Monsters (3rd place, 46 PTS, 23-8-0-0) on February 7-8, 2025 

  • Previous meetings this season: FRM have won all 4 games against OJR (4-0)

  • Prediction: FRM will sweep OJR in this two-game series as long as they continue to maintain control over the game (149 SOG vs 123 SOG) and their goaltending remains solid throughout the series. 

• A two-game series against Henderson Force (4th place, 45 PTS, 22-10-0-1) on February 14-15, 2025

  • Previous meetings this season: OJR have won three out of the four games against HNF (3-1)

  • Prediction: OJR will have the upperhand in this two-game series as they tend to keep consistent puck possession throughout their previous games against HNF (153 SOG vs. 113 SOG) and remain strong on their penalty killing (100%) when facing HNF. 

• A two-game series against the San Diego Sabers (5th place, 36 PTS, 18-14-0-0) on February 21, 2025 and the Long Beach Bombers (8th place, 18 PTS, 8-23-2-0) on February 22, 2025

  • Previous meetings this season: 

    • OJR has won three out of five games against SDS (3-2)

    • OJR have won four out of five games against LBB (4-1)

  • Prediction: 

    • The game against SDS will come down to goaltending and who can capitalize while having puck possession. For example, despite SDS having more scoring chances than OJR (204 SOG vs 120 SOG), SDS struggled to secure a couple wins when facing OJR. The times SDS did win, the SOG were very close to one another, hence why it may come down to goaltending and puck possession in future games between the two teams. 

    • OJR will likely sweep LBB as they not only outshoot LBB during the regular season (255 SOG vs. 146 SOG) but have also recorded more goals compared to LBB (25 G vs 14 G). 

• A three-game series against the Bakersfield Roughnecks (6th place, 29 PTS, 13-18-1-2) on Feb 28- March 1, 2025 and the Colorado Fighting Elk (6th place, 13 PTS, 6-19-1-0) on March 2, 2025. 

  • Previous meetings this season: 

    • OJR have won three out of the four games against BKR so far this season (3-1)

    • OJR and ELK have not faced one another

  • Prediction: 

    • OJR may sweep their two-game series against BKR if they continue to maintain control over the games (186 SOG vs. 123 SOG) and consistent goal scoring (22 G vs 8 G). 

    • OJR may sweep ELK based on season record and their power play/penalty killing success rates as ELK currently has a 13.71% PP success rate and 77.78 PK success rate. These are lower compared to OJR’s 23.27% PP success rate and 87.2% PK success rate

The Ontario Jr. Reign (47 PTS) do have some tough competition who are all fighting for the remaining playoff spots and a couple of games that may offer a challenge for the team. As mentioned in Summary of the Race to the Playoffs, it is hard to pinpoint who will clinch places 2-4 in the Pacific Division standing as they are all one point away from one another and maintaining their winning streaks. For reference, the Ontario Jr. Reign has 47 PTS and four-game winning streak, Fresno Monsters have 46 PTS and seven-game winning streak, and Henderson Force has 45 PTS and five-game winning streak. It will certainly be a close race between these three teams for a spot in the playoffs and secure home ice advantage if they can keep up their impressive winning streaks.