Luckies are in the playoffs with their first game against Smithers on Jan. 26 at the Houston Claude Perish Memorial Arena.
“We are all excited that we squeaked in there and made playoffs,” said left wing Luckies player Blair Dinelle.
Asked how he thinks the games will go against Smithers, Dinelle said, “It’s hard to predict. Obviously they are a great team, you don’t have a record like they have the last two years and not be a good team…so we’re just going to have to play a little harder and capitalize on our chances.”
Luckies coach Ambrose Kelly says he believes they can win, but it depends if all their players show up for the game.
“We have to play a full 60 minutes to beat those guys because they are so much better than every other team in the league,” said Kelly.
Asked how the last two season games went, Dinelle said they went pretty good.
They lost Jan. 12 against the Kitimat Ice Demons but played well, especially in the third period and they carried their momentum into the Jan. 13 game against Prince Rupert Rampage, said Dinelle, adding that they came out more determined to win and though the Prince Rupert goaltender held them off at first, he couldn’t keep them from the win.
“Once it got to the third we were just unstoppable and we just opened it up after that,” Dinelle said.
Luckies coach Ambrose Kelly says it was a one goal game for almost 40 minutes, but at the end they finally got some goals and ended it 6-3 for the Luckies.
“It was pretty intense throughout the whole game,” said Kelly.
“All our guys were playing well… Colton played in net and he played well and gave us a chance to win,” he added.
Dinelle says that coming off of their big 6-3 win in Prince Rupert, they are happy to be playing Smithers.
“Most people might not be, but they’ve lost three in a row and we just pulled out a big win so I think it’s going to be a very exciting battle for everyone to come and watch,” he said.
Kelly says playoff rounds are best of three games, and Luckies will play Smithers in Houston Jan. 26, in Smithers Feb. 2, and if they are tied and have to play a third game, they’ll play Feb. 3 in Smithers.
