As the Humboldt Broncos and Melfort Mustangs prepare for their first round playoff matchup, both coaches are expecting a tight series.
"There's not really any edge one way or another," said Broncos coach Dean Brockman.
"It's two very even hockey teams with similar styles," echoed Mustangs coach Trevor Blevins.
"They're a well coached, well positioned hockey team," Blevins said of the Broncos. "It will come down to who wants it more."
After giving his team three days off last week, Brockman's team has been on the ice for most of the past few days, with a brief cross-country skiing trip sandwiched in between. The goal for the coaching staff is to get the team ready without burning them out.
"You don't want to amp them up too much because then they don't sleep and it becomes a worry," Brockman said. "As this week goes along, we'll go hard at the beginning of the week, then taper off once we get closer to the games."
Both coaches agreed that a critical factor in the series would be the overall team speed of the Broncos, especially among their forwards.
"Shutting down their speed up front is important," Blevins said. "We also need to cut down on the neutral ice turnovers because they come back on you hard."
"We want to play with speed," Brockman said. "We have to be quick to things all over the ice. I don't want us to do a bunch of thinking, I just want us to play and play hard. The quicker we do things the less they'll be able to keep up with us."
The Broncos will open the series on Friday night in Melfort and will need to win at least once on the road in order to take the series. Humboldt has played well away from the Elgar Petersen Arena, but Melfort has won their last nine games at home.
"Starting on the road for the first game is OK for our team, just for the fact that we've played pretty well on the road and maybe they'll be a little nervous in front of their hometown crowd," Brockman said.
There are still some important decisions to be made between now and the first game - for example, Blevins hasn't decided on his starting goalie - but both coaches will have to make adjustments on a game-to-game basis.
"Until you get into that environment you don't know what's going to happen," Brockman said. "Twenty minutes can change everything in terms of how you prepared."
In the pressure cooker of a playoff series, the better team doesn't always win; a goalie can get hot or a team can benefit from a series of fortunate breaks.
"If they outplay us for two straight games, that's concerning," he said. "If we lose two games in a row but dominated in both, then you're not feeling as bad."
This weekend will be critical, as the first two games of the series will be played on consecutive nights, first in Melfort on Friday, then in Humboldt on Saturday. By Sunday morning, one team could have a stranglehold on the series. If you believe the coaches, though, the most likely outcome could be a 1-1 tie.
