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Written by Dale Woodard
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Thursday, 12 March 2009 |
Call it a miniseries before the real series kick off.
Wrapping up the final three games of their Western Hockey League regular season, the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Kootenay Ice clash in a home-and-home series starting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Enmax Centre before the rematch Saturday night in Cranbrook.
While both teams have locked up playoff spots when the post season kicks off next Friday, there’s still some regular season business to be settled as the ’Canes and Ice battle for sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, cranking up the heat in this weekend’s home-and-home tilt.
“It’s obviously a big weekend,” said Hurricanes head coach Mike Dyck. “We have three games left and we’re jockeying for a position. We really want to establish the way we want to play here to finish of the season (and) heading into the playoffs.”
The 34-30-3-2 ’Canes head into the two-game tilt with one game in hand on the Ice, currently trailing Kootenay by three points.
Snag the four points up for grabs and the ’Canes will take over sixth place in the East.
Lose both or split, and Lethbridge settles for seventh.
“I think you want to get some momentum going into the playoffs and we have a good chance too,” said Hurricanes forward Carter Ashton. ”They’re big games, they mean a lot to us.”
The teams’ season series is deadlocked at 2-2.
The Hurricanes kicked off the regular season with a 4-3 shootout win over the Ice and followed that up with a 1-0 blanking of Kootenay.
However, the Ice scored some payback in the next two games, doubling up the ’Canes 4-2 Nov. 14 and then handing Lethbridge a decisive 6-1 drubbing Dec. 28.
Expect more of the same from the Ice this weekend, said Dyck.
“Nothing different than they’ve done in the last couple of months. They’re playing well defensively and playing well as a team. They work hard.”
The list of first round opponents for the Hurricanes have been pared down three, the Saskatoon Blades and Brandon Wheat Kings with an outside shot of the Swift Current Broncos.
No matter where the ’Canes are headed to kick off the first round, an opponent is an opponent, said Dyck.
“Whether it’s Swift Current, Brandon or Saskatoon, it doesn’t really matter. They’re three good teams and three different identities. It doesn’t matter to us who we play.”
Ashton seconded his coach’s sentiment.
“All we have to worry about is ourselves right now. We feel we can take any team. We feel like we’re going to be underdogs in the playoffs and that’s what we have to look at and take these next two games as a playoff (game).”
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