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Petrolia to be represented in OHL championship series

May 8, 2026

Barry Wright/The Independent

The Ontario Hockey League final between the Barrie Colts and Kitchener Rangers will have a Petrolia flavour to it.

Eamon Edgar and the Barrie Colts won the Eastern Conference championship with a 5-0 win over the Bulldogs in Brantford on Monday night. The win gave the Colts the conference title in seven games.

Edgar, whose parents are both from Petrolia, won six face-offs for the Colts in the clinching contest. He had two assists, including the secondary helper on the game-winner, as Barrie beat Brantford, 4-3 in overtime Saturday to force game seven. The points were his first in his OHL playoff career.

The Colts will face off against the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL championship series.

Kitchener picked up a 5-2 win over Barrie on home ice to open the series on Wednesday night. The two teams square off again in game two in Kitchener tonight (Friday) at 7:00.

The Rangers advanced with a five-game series win over Windsor to capture the Western Conference title.

Lambton Jr. Sting alumni Cameron Reid assisted on the overtime winner as Kitchener rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Spitfires, 5-4 in its deciding game last Friday. Reid, a first round pick by the Nashville Predators last summer, has two goals and 11 points in 14 playoff games this season.

The Spitfire loss eliminated Jr. Sting grads Jack Nesbitt and John McLaughlin. Sarnia’s Nesbitt, who has family connections to Petrolia and Alvinston, ended his playoff season with seven goals and 10 points in 13 games. Corunna’s McLaughlin had three goals and eight points in the same number of contests.

Multiple recent reports say Nesbitt, a first round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers last summer, will jump to NCAA hockey next season with the University of Michigan Wolverines. The power forward seemed to confirm that during a postseason interview with Windsor’s Powerplay Sports.

“It’s definitely going to be tough,” said Nesbitt. “The hardest part is leaving these guys.”

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