The NOJHL changed its playoff format in 2025, but that change didn't stop the league from having another Powassan Voodoos-Hearst Lumberjacks first-round NOJHL playoff match.
This will be the fourth year in a row that the Voodoos have played the Lumberjacks in the opening round, with the Voodoos pulling out a 4-1 series win in 2023-24.
However, in 2024-25, the NOJHL's #2 seed and nationally ranked Lumberjacks have been able to handle the Voodoos with a 4-0 record over the Powassan club which was only able to pull out one overtime point from their rivals during the regular season.
The Voodoos have stumbled into the playoffs including a seven-game losing streak in February. In fact, the Voodoos finished the regular season under .500 for the first time since their inaugural season of 2014-15.
Peter Goulet, Voodoos head coach, is looking forward to a fresh start in the playoffs with his young team that only has five returnees from the 23-24 Voodoos that fell in the NOJHL finals to the Greater Sudbury Cubs last spring.
"We have a good hockey team," Goulet told Kortney Kenney on the latest edition of the Frontline Podcast
"When we play the right way, we can play with anybody in this league. We've shown it against the top teams, and it is just about consistency, when you have a young hockey team, you don't have consistency. but if we find it at the right time and the right place, then let's see what happens."
Jackson Smith, the Voodoos' captain, is one of those returnees who went to the NOJHL finals last season.
"We just need to stick to our systems and play the right way," said the Calgary product.
"If we can do that everything else will work out for itself."
The Voodoos will have to play some solid defence to come out ahead in this series as the Lumberjacks come into the playoffs 8-1-1 in their last 10 and are the highest-scoring team this season in the NOJHL. A total of eight Lumberjacks have 47 points or more led by local Hearst product Mathieu Comeau and his 67 points.
"They've done a good job building their hockey team," admitted Goulet about the Lumberjacks coached by former NOJHL star Marc Alain Begin, and General Manager Jonathan Blier.
"At the end of the day, we just have to see what happens, it's a brand new game. They beat us all four games this year, and that doesn't matter anymore.
"What matters is game one, the first period, the first shift, that first faceoff, and let's start off the right way."
Puck drops on Friday night in Hearst.
NOJHL quarter-final
Powassan Voodoos vs. Hearst Lumberjacks
Best-of-seven series
Game 1: Friday, March 21 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
Game 2: Saturday, March 22 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
Game 3: Monday, March 24 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
Game 4: Tuesday, March 25 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
Game 5*: Friday, March 28 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
Game 6*: Sunday, March 30 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
Game 7*: Tuesday, April 1 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Recreation Centre)
*-if necessary