By Josh Howald

It will be the most watched hockey game of the year in Kincardine.

Call it good scheduling, call it luck of the draw if you wish, but a perfect storm of events is happening that will no doubt lead to the Davidson Centre being jam packed for Game 2 of the Midget B OMHA Championship Series Saturday night.

Leading up to, during, and after the game, live entertainment and refreshments are being served down the hall at the 37th annual OldStars tournament, which will be running all day. A dance is being held that night, with no admission to enter. A great opening act is lined up, with the midget additional entry team facing Mooretown in Game 3 of another All-Ontario final series. That game is a 6 p.m. start.

Then, at roughly 7:30 p.m., the main event will begin.

The Kincardine Miller Insurance midget Kinucks will take the ice with the intention of taking a 2-0 stranglehold on a best-of-three OMHA Final against Penetang. The Kinucks are just two wins away from back-to-back All-Ontario titles after shutting out Penetang 4-0 in their own barn, better known as the ‘zoo’.

Spencer Montgomery didn’t allow a goal, and in fact hasn’t allowed a goal in more than two games..

“We did a great job of looking after the middle of the ice,” said Montgomery, who now has five shut out on this playoff run. “The shots I’m seeing are coming from the outside, so there hasn’t been a whole lot of pressure.”

Brody Hayes opened the scoring in Game 1 on a first period power play, and Payton Dunlop roofed one to make it 2-0. Keegan McLelland stretched the lead to three goals when he scored on a nifty face-off play near the end of the second. Derrick Bernath sealed Game 1 with a third period tally that made it 4-0.

“I’m not sure (Penetang) is as quite as good as (Kincardine’s semi-final opponent) Ingersoll,” said head coach Steve Stepaniak.

“However, I’m sure (Penetang) will come out fired up Saturday night, and we expect them to be better. This series is far from over.”

If anybody could be confident, it could be Stepaniak. He has been a part of all three OMHA championships claimed by Kincardine. He won it as a player in 1999, and as a coach in 2010 and 2012. His team was defeated in the championship series in 2011.

If his team can win Saturday night’s Game 2, Kincardine will have a chance to claim this series on Sunday afternoon on the road. Game 3 will be played in Penetang at 4:20 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Should Penetang battle back in this series, Game 4 would be Saturday, March 30 in Kincardine at 7:30 p.m., and Game 5 in Penetang the following day at 4:50 p.m. If this series needs a sixth game, it will be played Tuesday, April 2 in Kincardine at 7:30 p.m.

For up-to-date scores and updates, keep an eye on www.independent.on.ca