Scary moment in playoff opener as stretchers are rushed out during game 1
Joe Salandra went down in front of Marty Williamson, and Barrie's Game 1 against Jussi Ahokas' Kitchener Rangers instantly stopped feeling like playoff hockey.
What should have been the opening push of the OHL Championship Series turned into a long, tense stoppage after a tangle involving Salandra and Rangers captain Cameron Reid.
Barrie and Kitchener are opening a best-of-7 for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
The scene hit hard because this wasn't just a player staying down for a few extra seconds.
Salandra had to be stretchered off the ice, and the building shifted from playoff noise to near silence.
Barrie's full bench came onto the ice, and the look on those faces told the story.
Teammates were shaken, trainers were locked in, and the game suddenly became secondary.
Salandra was tangled up, stayed down, and needed immediate help before being lifted carefully onto the stretcher.
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That clip is why this story goes beyond a scoreboard.
In Game 1, with the series just getting started, both teams were left trying to reset after a moment nobody wanted to see.
Barrie Colts vs. Kitchener Rangers playoff series tone changed in a hurry
Barrie can't just shrug off a loss of composure here, and it can't brush aside a loss of personnel either.
Salandra has been one of the club's young difference-makers, earning OHL Rookie of the Week after a 5-point stretch made up of 3 goals and 2 assists in 4 wins.
That matters even more this deep in the spring.
The Colts just came out of the Eastern Conference bracket, and there's no soft landing once the final round opens.
Kitchener entered this matchup with real weight behind it.
If Salandra misses time, it affects Barrie's forward mix, its pace through the neutral zone, and the kind of pressure Williamson can keep on his top lines.
For now, there's no official word on Salandra's condition.
Until that arrives, Game 1 will be remembered less for who controlled the puck and more for the fear that spread through both benches after one ugly sequence.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ryan McLeod | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jansen Harkins | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Kreider | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Troy Terry | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||