The Chatham Maroons are heading into LaSalle Wednesday night as the underdogs in their first-round playoff series.
The Maroons finished the regular season firmly in sixth place while the Vipers closed things out in third place, behind London and Leamington.
While the teams finished three spots apart in the standings, there wasn't much separating them during the season on a head-to-head basis. The season series was evenly split between the two teams, with Chatham winning all three of its home games against LaSalle while the Vipers won all three of their matchups against the Maroons at the Vollmer Centre.
The playoff history between the two teams is evenly split, too. According to GOJHL and West Conference Historian Scott Holland, the two clubs have only ever met twice in the playoffs and both of those matchups were semi-finals.
The last time the two teams met in the post-season was in 2013/14 when the Maroons swept the Vipers 4-0. The only other time they met was in 2009/10 -- the Vipers won that series 4-2.
You can hear every game of this year's series on the radio at Country 92.9FM / 630AM CFCO or online by clicking here.
The playoff schedule is as follows:
Game 1 in LaSalle - Wed. Feb. 28 at 7pm Game 2 in Chatham - Thurs. March 1 at 7pm Game 3 in LaSalle - Sat. March 3 at 7pm Game 4 in Chatham - Sun. March 4 at 7pm
Game 5* in LaSalle - Wed. March 7 at 7pm Game 6* in Chatham - Thurs. March 8 at 7pm Game 7* in LaSalle - Sun. March 11 at 7:30pm
*if necessary