Stakes ratchet up as Hounds face Firebirds
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by Bob Davies
Playoff hockey – especially after the first round – is raw and nasty and primal.
It tests a player’s intelligence and ability, but also his courage and will.
Based on their regular season performances, the OHL’s Western Conference semifinal between the Soo Greyhounds and Flint Firebirds could become a lengthy war of attrition.
“It’ll be a very-hard battle. Both teams will have to play their best to win,” said Hounds overage winger Cole MacKay, whose team is slated to open the best-of-seven series with games on Friday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (4 p.m.) at Dort Financial Center.
“It should be a very-difficult series, a real challenge for the Soo Greyhounds,” added Hounds head coach John Dean, whose fourth-seeded team eliminated the fifth-seeded Guelph Storm in five games in the conference quarter-finals. “There’s no doubt about it, it’ll be tough.”
While their styles are somewhat different, when the Hounds stare into a mirror, they can sometimes see the Firebirds peaking back at them.
Both West Division teams love to play with pace, relying on speed and the ability to scare their opponent off the rush. They excel in transition. In fact, Dean has called the Firebirds the best transition team he’s seen in years.
With a 42-21-1-4 record, Flint finished four points ahead of the Hounds (39-22-6-1) in the regular season standings. The Firebirds scored 48 goals more than they allowed, the Soo was a plus-49.
Flint’s offence produced 286 goals, nine fewer than the Greyhounds. The Firebirds allowed 238, eight fewer than their division rivals.
When they met at the end of the regular season, the teams split two meaningless games in Flint. The Soo won the opener 6-3, the Firebirds grabbed the second clash 6-4.
When the games mattered, these teams needed either overtime or a shootout to decide three previous meetings. On Jan. 28, Flint was a 5-4 overtime winner at GFL Memorial Gardens. The Soo followed up with a 2-1 shootout victory 19 days later here.
In a wild clash on March 18, the Greyhounds were 8-7 shootout winners at Dort Financial Center.
Following the opening games in Flint this weekend, the series moves to the Gardens for Games 3-4, Tuesday and Thursday (both at 7:07 p.m.). If a fifth game is required, it would be played a week from Saturday in Flint (7 p.m.).
If necessary, Game 6 is slated for May 16 (7:07 p.m.) in the Sault. And should the series go the distance, the seventh game would be played on May 18 (7 p.m.) in Flint.
“They’re a good, older team with a good forward corps,” Hounds star centre Rory Kerins said of the third-seeded Firebirds, who needed seven games to eliminate the Owen Sound Attack, who were seeded No. 6 in the conference.
Playing at home, Brennan Othmann scored the winner and Braeden Kressler added an empty-netter as Flint defeated Owen Sound 4-2 on Wednesday. It marked the Firebirds first playoff series victory since the franchise relocated to Flint from Plymouth, Mich., before the 2015-2016 season.
“We’ve had some good battles with them throughout the year and we’re very excited to compete against them,” added Kerins, whose regular season stat line of 43-75-118 was second-best in the OHL.
“We’re very hungry,” said star defenceman Jack Thompson, who leads his team in playoff scoring (3-6-9).
In fact, Thompson and his defensive partner, Ryan O’Rourke (1-7-8), are 1-2 in Greyhounds point production.
“We had glimpses in the first series against Guelph where we were at our best,” Thompson noted. “We played some good hockey and we’re going into the next round with confidence.”
En route to winning four of five, the Hounds, paced by Tye Kartye’s five goals, outscored the Storm 21-11 in the quarter-finals. Combined with their 6-1-0-0 record to close the regular season, the Soo has won 10 of its last 12. Counting the end of the regular season, Flint has won eight of its last 12.
“Anytime you compete as hard as we did against Guelph and you find success, the buy-in becomes greater and greater and the confidence becomes greater as well,” Dean said. “There’s a clear commitment to details, to playing without the puck and to defending well.”
“We elevated our game. We were all playing for each other,” Kerins, who has five assists in the post-season, said of the Guelph series. “Every guy on our team brought something to the series and everyone stepped up.”
So what are the keys to parking the Firebirds and advancing to meet the winner of the Windsor – Kitchener series in the conference final?
“We’re going to have to manage the puck well and not give them too many odd-man rushes,” Dean answered. “We want to make sure that while we’re creating offence, we’re not giving up anything on the other side of the puck. That’ll be the No. 1 priority for us.”
“If you don’t have a play, don’t force something,” said MacKay, the club’s third-leading scorer in the regular season (28-47-75) and fourth (3-3-6) in the playoffs. “Chip it in and get it behind their D. For our D, just be patient and pick your spots properly.”
While Luke Cavallin (2.44 goals against average, .926 saves percentage in the playoffs) is expected to again start in goal for Flint, the Hounds will go with Samuel Ivanov (2.34, .911) for at least the first two games in Flint.
Tucker Tynan (1.44, .952) has two games remaining in a three-game, league-imposed suspension, after the veteran was assessed a match penalty for roughing in Game 4 against Guelph.
On Thursday, Dean said no other Hounds players are injured or ill heading into the Flint opener.
“We’re very happy with the way we’re playing and trending,” said MacKay. “But we have a short memory as well.”
Asked if he expected a long series, Dean said he doesn’t expect anything.
“We’re just trying to win one game,” the coach added.
Thompson assessed where he and his teammates are, and what they’re capable of, as they prepare for the conference semis.
“When we’re playing our game and playing structured hockey, I don’t know if there’s anyone who can beat us,” he said.
