Quesnel Kangaroos travel to Lac La Hache for the first game of their best-of-three CIHL playoff series.
The series is the first step on the road to the Coy Cup, the provincial senior mens double A championship and to be successful, coaches and players agree they will have to put a premium on the defensive side of the puck.
“The discipline of how we look after our defence,” coach of the Kangaroos, Win Winofsky said would be key.
“Our defensive zone coverage has to improve.
“Not the defencemen, the entire team has to be more aware.”
Early in the season, the ‘Roos dispatched the T’Hawks 5-4, 15-5 and 13-6.
The tables turned late in the season, with Lac La Hache besting the Kangaroos 7-3 at home and 7-6 a week later in Quesnel to end the regular season.
Winofsky also pointed to one play by the Tomahawks in particular to which his team will need to pay more attention.
“They’ve done it all year,” he began.
“They send one or two guys at our blueline, it’s kind of like river hockey, but it’s effective.
“They throw a Hail Mary pass and they catch us with a guy late.”
Not helping matters, the Kangaroos lost defenceman and team captain Gino D’Appolonia in the last game of the regular season when he broke his leg applying a check to a T’Hawks player.
Although a big void to fill, ‘Roos assistant captain, Curtis Gassoff felt the ‘Roos could fill the gap.
“It does hurt to lose a player, but we’ve got guys that can step up and play defence,” he said.
“Losing one guy is not too bad, we have a full squad, not many teams can say they have four full lines.”
Another difference in the outcomes has been preparation and execution, Gassoff said.
“We need to prepare mentally for the games and execute the game plan,” he said.
Part of the game plan, which the ‘Roos executed well early in the season, is to dump the puck deep and apply pressure on the forecheck, ‘Roos forward Rigby Burgart said.
“We have to play the way we did in the first half of the season and we’ll be fine.”
Offensively the Kangaroos are in a good position, they finished the season with 109 goals, 22 more than the Tomahawks.
But in playoff hockey, intangibles also play an important role.
“We’ve got to work hard,” Burgart said.
Of course, any playoff run is more fun when the seats are full of fans and Winofsky hopes the fans will support the ‘Roos the way they did during the regular season.
“We’d like to thank all the fans for their support during the regular season,” he said.
“I hope we can put a good playoff run together for them.
“We really appreciate the support.”
Game one of the series is Saturday in Lac La Hache, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Game two is Saturday, Feb. 4, at Twin Arenas. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
If necessary, game three goes Sunday, Feb. 5, also at Twin Arenas. Puck drop is 2:30 p.m.
