Terrifying scene in playoff opener as player is stretchered off: new details emerge
Joe Salandra has been ruled out for Barrie after the scary stretcher exit, and Marty Williamson now heads into the OHL Finals without one of his key young forwards against Kitchener.
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The update landed Wednesday night when Josh Brown reported the ambulance had taken Salandra to hospital, with a second one en route before play could resume.
That detail alone changed the tone of Game 1. The third period was delayed because league protocol requires an ambulance on site before puck drop.
So the Colts didn't just lose a player. They lost momentum, rhythm, and any sense that this series was going to be a clean fight.
Now insiders are doubling down on what that means. Generals Live posted late Wednesday night that Kitchener has a clear edge at full strength, and that Barrie without Beaudoin and Salandra is a different team entirely.
The post went further. The account questioned whether Barrie can win more than half the games in this series, and didn't see it stretching past 5.
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Marty Williamson loses two forwards before Kitchener pressure even peaks
That's the kind of read that lands hard the morning after a Game 1 like this one. Because it's not just one absence. It's two.
Beaudoin missing changes Barrie's forward depth. Salandra missing changes the pace and the offensive push the Colts were leaning on through the Eastern bracket.
Put them together and Williamson is suddenly building a top six on the fly against a Kitchener group coached by Jussi Ahokas that already had the structural advantage.
And Cameron Reid's Rangers don't need extra help. They've been the favorite in this matchup since the brackets were set.
The math gets uglier when you stack the schedule. Best-of-7 series punish thin lineups, and recovery time between games shrinks fast once travel kicks in.
Barrie's bottom six will have to absorb more minutes. The power play loses a piece. The penalty kill loses a body. None of it is easy to replace mid-series.
So where does that leave the Colts heading into Game 2? Probably leaning harder on veterans, shortening the bench, and hoping the goaltending steals one before the gap widens.
Hockey doesn't wait for injury updates. The puck drops again, and Barrie has to find answers before Kitchener turns this into a short series.
Best wishes to Joe Salandra during this difficult time.
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| POLL | ||
MAI 7 | 365 ANSWERS Terrifying scene in playoff opener as player is stretchered off: new details emerge Can Barrie still win this OHL Finals series without Salandra and Beaudoin ? | ||
| Yes | 148 | 40.5 % |
| No | 217 | 59.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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HIER
14 MAI 2026
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| B | P | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| STATS COMPLÈTES | ||||