After sweeping the Regina Silver Foxes in their first-round playoff series, the bantam AA Terriers will square off against the Regina Pat Blues in round two.
(1) Regina Pat Blues (22-4-1, 45 points) vs. (4) Yorkton Terriers (13-10-4, 30 points)
Why the Pat Blues should win: There is no denying the Queen City Kids are the favourites in this series. They finished the season atop the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Division and won both of their games against the Terriers (4-3 in October, 5-2 in January).
Leading goal-scorer Riley Woods will be a tough customer to contain. He was on fire in the regular-season, scoring 25 goals and 60 points in 27 games, and hasn't let up in the second season with five points in two games against the Estevan Bruins.
Curtis Meger and Zach Johnson have been rock solid between the pipes. They combined for one goal against in their first two playoff games.
"The Pat Blues might have the best goaltending in the league," notes Terriers head coach Damon Kustra. "They are a tough team to score against. Unless you get to your rebounds and get guys in front of the net, you won't score too many against them."
How the Terriers could win: Although they are the underdogs, this isn't a David vs. Goliath story. If the puck bounces their way, Yorkton can knock off the Class of the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League's Â鶹´«Ã½AV Division.
It goes without saying that the Terriers' top players, such as leading goal-scorer Brennan Watson and team captain Kylan Shea, will have to be their best performers to edge the Pat Blues.
"We need the guys that have been our best players throughout the year to continue to come up big for us," says Kustra. "When your up against a team like the Pat Blues, you know it will be close. So we will need our leaders to score some big goals and play good defensively."
No different from the Queen City Kids, Yorkton's goaltending has been solid. The Terriers will continue to roll with Braidon Berezowski, who maintained a 2.80 average in 17 regular-season games and a 1.50 average in two playoff games this year.
"Braidon has been really good for us," says Kustra. "He has honestly been a bit of surprise. We didn't expect him to play as good as he has. He has made a lot of key saves throughout the year."
Kustra believes line matching and the performance of his top shutdown line is vital to their hopeful success.
"We've been line matching most of the year and it has helped against team's top players," he says. "A guy like Riley Woods is a very skilled and small centre that can be very dangerous out there. Our shutdown line will need to keep their legs moving against him."
Momentum and motivation have to be taken into account when assessing the Terriers' odds of pulling off the upset.
"Our guys are confident after beating the Silver Foxes," says Kustra. "I think we can carry over some of that momentum over against the Pat Blues. We also wanted another shot at these guys because they beat us during the year and we feel we can beat them if we're at our best."
The first game of the series on Monday, March 4 was cancelled due to poor weather. The new series schedule will be announced on the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League website (www.sbaahl.ca).
