After dispatching the Kindersley Klippers in a four game sweep, the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins only had to wait a couple of days to find out who they would play in the semifinal round of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
And as fate would have it, it’s the Battlefords North Stars, the team that has knocked the Bruins out of the playoffs three of the last four years. Bruins head coach and general manager didn’t think his team was looking too far ahead to a possible second round matchup with the Stars until recently.
“I don’t think they’ve been looking forward too much,” said Lewgood whose Bruins start the series in North Battleford Friday and Saturday before returning to Affinity Place for games Monday and Tuesday. “There’s 12 good teams and it takes a while to figure out who you’re going to play. The guys were focused on Kindersley and now that we know who we’re playing the guys are pretty excited we’re playing the Stars.”
The North Stars have a potent lineup of scorers, led by league leading scorer Layne Young, who had eight points in four games as the Stars knocked out the Weyburn Red Wings in the first round, and 107 points in 57 regular season games overall this year.
In total, there will be five of the SJHL’s top six goal scorers in the series (Young and McGregor Sinclair from the Battlefords, Estevan’s Zach Goberis, Kaelan Holt and Michael McChesney).
“We’ve seen a lot of goals for and against the Stars over the years, and there’s a lot of factors in play in that,” Lewgood said. “I think it’ll be a little tighter come playoff time, as you typically see. With the amount of offense available to both teams, I think there’s going to be some goal scoring.”
The Bruins will see a much different kind of challenge in front of them compared to Kindersley, a physically large team that tried to distract and slow down games. The Stars present as a team that can score more than Kindersley – nearly a goal a game average in the regular season – but the Bruins are the league’s regular season scoring champions.
“I think three-zone responsibility,” said Lewgood about the solution. “That means in the offensive zone when we have puck possession, we’ve got to make sure we manage that puck and not just give up our possession. In the neutral zone, we’ve got assignments we need to follow. Anytime we have a turnover, we have to immediately fall back and get into defensive positioning and this way we get their second opportunities and try and limit the quality of their first opportunities.”
The Bruins’ last line of defence in the playoffs so far has been Bo Didur, who allowed only five goals to Kindersley in their entire four game series, including a 5-0 shutout in Kindersley in Game 3.
“We think we’re really lucky to have two really good goaltenders and Bo is playing some really good hockey,” Lewgood said. “Some of those statistics are a reflection of our team defence but the last line of defence is your goaltender. Our goaltender’s been really good for us and we have a lot of faith in Bo.”
Didur said playing the Stars this weekend will be exciting.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve found some success against them in three games, I think we’ve had five of six points,” he said. “Everybody’s excited to get this series going. Practices are going well and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Didur has been one of the money players this year since arriving in the middle of the season from the BCHL and provided solid and at times spectacular saves in the Kindersley series. Didur credits his teammates for the assistance.
“I thought as a team, they helped me out a lot when it came to making the right saves and making the timely saves,” said Didur. “Every time I made a save, those guys are there to clear a rebound and keep guys out from the front of the net. It made my job easy.”
“Our best players have been our best players through the first four games of the playoffs and really all year,” said Lewgood. “We need Bo to stand tall and just like every one of our other leaders and veterans have to show up and lead by example.”
Veteran forward Hayden Guilderson might not be one of those players able to lead by example as he took a hard knock in Game 4 and wasn’t participating at practice with the Bruins Monday.
“No timetable for Guilderson yet,” Lewgood said. “It could be as early as Friday’s game but it could be longer. We’re not sure. He’s dealing with likely a concussion but no time for him and most of the guys are just nursing small wounds and they’ll be ready to go Friday.”
The series starts with the first four games in a span of five days, which Lewgood doesn’t think will be as much of a factor between the teams.
“You’ve got to be ready every night and you’ve got to take care of yourselves in the week leading up,” said Lewgood. “I think that’s just as important as the days leading up and in between. Our guys need to start prepping for the series now. It’s about nutrition and it’s about rest and taking care of their bodies. It’s proper stretching and managing their injuries or their nicks. Both teams play the same schedule. They’ve got the same issues we do. They’re going to be asking about the high-flying Estevan Bruins… travel’s going to be pretty well exactly the same for both teams. We’re confident our structure that we have leading into this round is going to provide the guys a good chance to win.”
