Posted by Les Lazaruk on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 12:08:00 PM.
Which Lethbridge Hurricanes’ team is the real one after splitting the opening two games of a best-of-seven W-H-L Eastern Conference quarter-final series with the Blades in Saskatoon over the weekend?
I think you may get part of the answer before the weekend as the Bridge City Bunch and the ‘Canes play Games 3 and 4 in this Southern Alberta city on Tuesday and Wednesday. The split means a guaranteed Game 5 on Saturday at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon.
“It was almost a reverse situation here (in Saturday’s 5-2 loss compared to Friday’s 5-1 victory),” summed up Blades’ General Manager and Head Coach Lorne Molleken, “I thought Lethbridge, at the start of the game, had an extra step to their stride and certainly we couldn’t counter that for the most part. (Zach) Boychuk and (Dwight) King were real good for them and we didn’t really get enough good opportunities on (goaltender Juha) Metsola to create some goals or create more opportunity.
“We just need to learn from this, put it behind us and get ready for Tuesday night.”
Saturday’s game showed why many believe this series will be the best one of the opening round of the WHL playoffs. The 28-point difference in the standings between the East Division-champion Blades (with 103 points) compared to the seventh seeded Hurricanes (with 75 points) is slashed to almost nothing because of two major factors.
The first is playoff experience. The series started with the Lethbridge roster having 318 games worth of WHL post-season experience, compared to just 57 for Saskatoon. Only six Blades’ players had participated in the playoffs compared to 13 returnees to the Lethbridge side…plus another three players acquired from other teams that have had some time in the “second” season.
The second factor is “star power”. The highest of four NHL draft picks on the Saskatoon roster is defenceman Jyri Niemi…in the 3rd round by the New York Islanders. Lethbridge has three first round draft picks (Boychuk, forward Kyle Beach and defenceman Luca Sbisa) plus a second rounder (defenceman Eric Mestery). Plus forwards Dwight King and Colton Sceviour are 4th round selections from 2007.
The ‘Canes were supposed to be a contender for a division and conference championship while the Bridge City Bunch were supposed to be scratching and clawing just to get into the playoffs.
Talk about your reversal of fortunes!
But, as this is written, the series is 1-1 and a long ways from over. The Blades have two factors in their favour…one, being depth and balance. The second is their road record…a WHL-record tying 28 wins during the regular season!
“We knew it was going to be a long, tough battle against a real good team,” said Molleken, “It’s a situation now that it is a new season and we’re hoping that our success on the road during the regular season will carry over into the playoffs.”
I said before the series started that I thought this set would see the first two games split in Saskatoon and the next two games in Lethbridge also being split…meaning a 2-2 series coming back for Game 5 Saturday at Credit Union Centre.
We’ll see how good of a prognosticator I am come Thursday morning.
***
I promised to do this a while back…my apologies to Ryan Ohashi, the ever-willing “we aim to please” Communications Coordinator for the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the delay. However, if not for people like Ryan Ohashi in Lethbridge, willingly and unfailingly responding positively to my calls for help with information (rosters, game notes, statistics, etc.) then my job of bringing play-by-play of the Saskatoon Blades on the radio and the internet would be a lot more difficult than it already is!
While I’m at it…I have to give major thanks and props to the office staff with the Blades…Michael Scissons always comes through with the info I require…while Trent Coghill, Aaron Avivi, Celynn Kasun, Brittany Loraas and Matt Tillman are absolute pleasures to work with!
Plus, Ryan Ohashi isn’t the only team communications person that is a big help to me…the same goes to all of them around the league, as well as my radio play-by-play bretheren (many of whom work for their team and do the communications in addition to being on air!) and Cory Flett and his hard-working communications’ staff in the WHL office. A million thank yous to all of you “unsung heroes” behind the scenes…at least to me!!
***
Blades Player-of-the-Week: He only played Game 1, but Jyri Niemi’s performance was stellar. The 18-year-old Finnish defenceman scored the winning goal, assisted on the first goal and was a dynamic force for 55 minutes until being cross-checked in the face by Hurricanes’ forward Kyle Beach. Both sat out Game 2 with suspensions for the incident and its aftermath…but both played Tuesday in Lethbridge.
from kevin on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 02:17:09 AM
nice to see the boys able to get the split in lethbridge. now we are a best of 3 with home ice, a good situation for the blades!...i as a fan am a little disappointed in the lack of not only the amount of fans attending these games but also didnt anyone hear you were supposed to wear white???...cmon its not that hard..i heard it on the radio internet and tv...if you dont think it means sumthin to the players you are wrong...it pumps them up big time...im hoping more people will catch on for saturday...i think it would be great if we could get 8000 plus saturday night and be the loudest crowd all year...i can only hope
LACK OF FANS
from ryan on Friday, March 27, 2009 at 05:32:47 PM
I think that everybody wearing white is kinda corny, but the lack of support by fans is a joke!Your looking at one of the best teams we have had in 15 years,i'm sorry that place SHOULD BE FULL!!! So instead of staying home and watching the same crapy leaf team on t.v.,and fighting with the wife.Tell her you are taking her and the kids out to see the best junior hockey game they will ever see.And LES when we win the series will we play Brandon next.
kids prices
from Kent on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 10:24:40 AM
It is tough to pay $12 a game to take a 6 year old to a game for playoffs. If they make the finals the ticket price for them will also be more than it was for an adult ticket during the regular season. They have also tripled the price of child season tickets for next year from 2 years ago. I for one will NOT be renewing next year my 4 season tickets and will find some other ways to spend my entertaiment/recreation money.
agree
from darcey on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 01:38:10 PM
Although it has been a great season and our whole family loves blades games, we too will be cutting our season ticket purchases from 7 to 3 due to the increase in kids prices. Kind of sad, but we will have to take turns going due to cost. As for the team what a great bunch, ahats off for a great season, hoping to see a great game on Wednesday for game 7.
Quit complaining
from James on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 03:24:22 PM
Every day there is a reason to complain. 12 dollars? Ever been to Calgary? 26 a seat. Doesn't matter who is sitting in it. You paid 99 for a childs seat to watch 35 games. You saved your money, now pay up and support your team.
(no subject)
from kevin on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 02:22:30 AM
i think the ticket prices are still fairly reasonable....but....when you get a childs ticket for 99 one year then the next 149, i feel that is a stiff increase, and it makes it tough for a family with more then one kid to afford this...this is not calgary and should not be treated like it...its like apples and oranges...bottom line is the increase is stiff and i for one will be seriously concidering not renewing my tickets also due to this.
prices vs full stands
from Terri on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 10:55:44 AM
Isn't it better to have the stands full with lower ticket prices than charging more and having the stands empty. The end cash result would be the same. Everyone complains that we don't have enough fans, so what does increasing prices do? With the addition of the seats in the open end, the Blades will be lucky if the stands are 1/2 full next year reguardless of what happens in the playoffs.
