Houston Luckies start the playoffs with a home game against the Quesnel Kangaroos, east division, on Jan. 25.
After the first playoff game at home, they will play two games in Quesnel on Feb. 1 and 2.
The final CIHL standings are as follows: At the top are Williams Lake Stampeders, east division, and Terrace River Kings, west division, with 25 points; second is Quesnel Kangaroos, east, and Smithers Steelheads, west, with 24 points each; third is Kitimat Ice Demons, west, with 19 points and fourth is Houston Luckies and Prince Rupert Rampage, both west division with 15 points. Lac La Hache Tomahawks, east division, was last with six points.
Asked what the Luckies expect at playoffs, Head Coach Shane Brienen said it’s hard to say.
“Whenever they had a full team this year, they did fairly well. They didn’t lose a game at home, and I don’t think they won one on the road.
“It’s hard to say what will happen… We won five games in a row at one point during the season, and in the playoffs anything can happen.
“We only saw [Quesnel] once in the season, and they looked fairly strong,” he said.
Brienen says Luckies have struggled a bit this past season.
“We’ve got a lot of young players and we struggled to get a full team on the road.
“When they played well, they played very well.
Asked about the team strengths, Brienen it’s their physicality and their speed when they have a full lineup.
“For a young team, they’re extremely physical… and they seem to be able to go out and mix it up quite easily,” he said.
“They just have to go out there and play their style, and roll all four lines as long as they can with an aggressive forecheck.
“They’ve been pretty strong that way, at least when they had a full lineup.
“We’ve had a pretty decent forecheck and a good backcheck. We just need a good effort and to play our best hockey,” he said.
The Luckies first playoff game will be at the Houston Claude Parish Memorial Arena at 8 p.m.
Come out and support the team!
