"Freedom begins between the ears," American author Edward Abbey once said.
(I know, it's lame to begin anything with a quote, but it was just perfect.)
The Estevan Bruins have had a regular season to forget. Instead of locking down a top three spot in the Sherwood Conference, as they were expected to, they struggled out of the gate, settled into fifth place and stayed there.
They didn't have a single player in the top 20 in SJHL scoring, and only Cole Olson finished in the top 40 (pending last night's finale against Notre Dame).
They lost four of their six games against the Kindersley Klippers, including all three in Kindersley.
That venue, which has not given Estevan a win all season, must now yield at least one, maybe two, in a five-game series.
All of this might matter, or maybe it won't.
It's all about what happens between the ears.
The Bruins must forget the regular season, forget the struggles against the Klippers.
They must approach the post-season as a blank slate, a brand-new opportunity to prove themselves.
To prove that they are the team that went 8-8-2 after bringing back Dylan Smith, not the team that posted a 12-21-2 record before that.
That they're the team that rolled four solid lines the last two weeks, not the one that finished eighth in the SJHL in goals.
That they're the team that dumped Kindersley 6-3 at home, not the one that lost 6-1 in Kindersley.
Most of all, the Bruins have to put their road woes out of their mind. The Klippers have home-ice advantage. There's no getting around it.
Estevan must grind out a split in Kindersley to give themselves a shot.
That's the bottom line.
Contact Josh Lewis at 634-2654 (oops, SaskTel says 306-634-2654) or sports@estevanmercury.ca. Just give Paul MacLean the Jack Adams Trophy already.
