FIRST ROUND PREVIEWS
(1) PORTAGE TERRIES vs. (8) WAYWAY WOLVERINES
The Terriers begin their drive towards the RBC Cup which starts May 9th at the PCU Centre in Portage. First up is a best-of-seven series with the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. Wayway beat Dauphin 2-0 in their Survivor Series. When it comes to head to head Portage was 6-0-0 against the Wolverines. However in their last meeting Wayway almost pulled out a victory, but ended up losing at home in a shootout (4-3). The Terriers outscored the Wolverines 30-13 in the regular season series.
REGULAR SEASON STATS
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play:
Terriers – 22.85% (2) / Wolverines – 20.26% (4)
Penalty Kill:
Terriers – 88.61% (1) / Wolverines – 86.13% (2)
TOP SCORERS
Terriers: Zach Waldvogel (28G & 50A for 78PTS (1st in MJHL))
Wolverines: George Splichal (25G & 32A for 57PTS (13th in MJHL))
GOALIES
Terriers: Justin Laforest 31-3, 2.13 GAA, .911 SV% & 3 SO / Zac Robidoux 5-1, 1.77, .927 SV% & 1 SO
Wolverines: Mitch Wiebe 20-22, 3.02 GAA, .905 SV% & 2 SO / Branden Holtby 3-9, 2.86 GAA & .908 SV%
(2) STEINBACH PISTONS vs. (7) SELKIRK STEELERS
Steinbach heads into the playoffs on a strong run and will take on the Selkirk Steelers who beat OCN 2-0 in their Survivor Series. Steinbach has won nine of their last 10 coming into this series. In that stretch they hammered Selkirk 5-1. Overall the season series between Selkirk and Steinbach was controlled by the Pistons, they went 3-1-2 against the Steelers who won two of their games in the shootout. Steinbach doubled Selkirk in the goal totals, outscoring them 26-13. That includes a 9-0 win at home in November.
REGULAR SEASON STATS
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play:
Pistons – 22.86% (1) / Steelers – 16.00% (5)
Penalty Kill:
Pistons – 85.20% (3) / Steelers – 83.39% (6)
TOP SCORERS
Pistons: Tyler Penner (31G & 35A for 66PTS (4th in MJHL))
Steelers: Ty Kraus (17G, 34A for 51PTS (22nd in MJHL))
GOALIES
Pistons: Nick Deery 30-15, 2.27 GAA, .922 SV% & 5 SO / Mario Petit 9-6, 2.63 GAA, .907 SV% & 2 SO
Steelers: Teegan Sacher 16-14, 2.97 GAA, .913 SV% & 1 SO / Hayden Dola 13-15, 3.47 GAA, .899 SV% & 2 SO
(3) WINNIPEG BLUES vs. (6) SWAN VALLEY STAMPEDERS
The Winnipeg Blues will begin their defence of the MJHL Championship on home ice as they take on the Swan Valley Stampeders. It was a good season for both clubs, but when it came down to face to face Winnipeg went 4-2-0 against Swan Valley, outscoring them 25-14. A concern for the Stampeders was the fact they lost twice to Winnipeg in their final two meetings of the season, both by the same score of 6-1.
REGULAR SEASON STATS
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play:
Blues – 20.77% (3) / Stampeders – 14.62% (9)
Penalty Kill:
Blues – 83.59% (4) / Stampeders – 77.89% (10)
TOP SCORERS
Blues: Kamerin Nault (33G & 38A for 71PTS (2nd in MJHL))
Stampeders: Tristen Mullin (24G & 28A for 52PTS (19th in MJHL))
GOALIES
Blues: Scott Parsons 23-17, 2.63 GAA, .903 SV% & 3 SO / Brian Archibald 10-2, 2.70 GAA, .906 SV% & 1 SO
Stampeders: Graham Hunt 23-25, 3.07 GAA, .915 SV% & 4 SO / Lasse Petersen 5-7, 3.40 GAA & .912 SV%
(4) WINKLER FLYERS vs. (5) VIRDEN OIL CAPITALS
After dominating the season series early on, the Virden Oil Capitals stumbled against Winkler late in the campaign to take the set, going 4-2-0 against the Flyers. Late in the year Winkler beat Virden twice (3-1 & 5-1). If there was a series out of the first four you’d pick to go seven games, this would likely be the one. Virden edged out Winkler in goals for between the two clubs by picking up 22, Winkler had 18. Home ice advantage may turn out to be critical in this best-of-seven.
REGULAR SEASON STATS
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power Play:
Flyers – 13.49% (10) / Oil Capitals – 14.87% (7)
Penalty Kill:
Flyers – 83.41% (5) / Oil Capitals – 82.18% (8)
TOP SCORERS
Flyers: Tristan Keck (43G & 20A for 63PTS (6th in MJHL))
Oil Capitals: Soren Frederiksen (31G & 28A for 59PTS (10th in MJHL))
GOALIES
Flyers: Dasan Sydora 26-15, 2.61 GAA, .921 SV% & 3 SO / Devon Fordyce 9-22, 3.01 GAA, .913 SV% & 3 SO
Oil Capitals: Sean Kuehn 21-16, 2.65 GAA & .903 SV% / Cameron Pateman 8-8, 3.12 GAA, .876 SV% & 1 SO
