SECOND ROUND PREVIEWS
(1) PORTAGE TERRIERS vs. (5) VIRDEN OIL CAPITALS
The Virden Oil Capitals are back into the second round of the MJHL Playoffs and much like last year, they’ll face another very strong team. However you could say this year’s Portage Terriers are on a different level than last year’s Dauphin Kings. The good news for the Oil Capitals is they were able to beat the Terriers earlier in the year. Portage owned the season series, going 5-0-1. But if you dig a little deeper and throw the first two meetings (Right at the start of the season) out the window, you’ll notice that three of the four final meetings between the two teams in the regular season were settled by one goal games. Overall the Terriers outscored the Oil Capitals 25-11, but take out Virden’s 9-0 home opener loss and it changes to 16-11. This series could end up being closer than some may think…
PLAYOFF STATS
SPECIAL TEAMS (Out of the four remaining teams)
Power Play:
Terriers – 42.86% (1) / Oil Capitals – 15.15% (3)
Penalty Kill:
Terriers – 95.65% (2) / Oil Capitals – 91.67% (4)
TOP PLAYOFF SCORERS
Terriers: Shawn Bowles (4G & 4A for 8PTS in 4GP (T3rd in MJHL))
Oil Capitals: Jordan Greig (0G, 8A for 8PTS in 6GP (T3rd in MJHL))
GOALIES
Terriers: Justin Laforest 3-0, 0.33 GAA, .985 SV% & 2 SO / Zac Robidoux 1-0, 0.00, 1.000 SV% & 1 SO
Oil Capitals: Sean Kuehn 4-2, 2.18 GAA & .921 SV%
(2) STEINBACH PISTONS vs. (3) WINNIPEG BLUES
For the third straight season the Steinbach Pistons meet the Winnipeg Blues in the MJHL Playoffs. Last year it was the Blues beating the Pistons in six games. The year previous it was the exact opposite as Pistons got by the Blues in six. Ironically enough, both teams went on to beat the Dauphin Kings in the MJHL final. However, the similarities continued at the Western Canada Cup where both groups failed to make it past the round robin stage of the five team tournament. When it comes to this year’s MJHL campaign, Steinbach controlled the season series, going 5-1-0 against Winnipeg and outscoring them 26-16. Take it for what it’s worth, but these two teams have only played each other once since the Trade Deadline.
REGULAR SEASON STATS
SPECIAL TEAMS (Out of the four remaining teams)
Power Play:
Pistons – 0.00% (4) / Blues – 33.33% (2)
Penalty Kill:
Pistons – 100% (1) / Blues – 94.74% (3)
TOP SCORERS
Pistons: Dustin Loeppky (3G & 2A for 5PTS (T18th in MJHL))
Blues: Brett Brooks (4G, 6A for 10PTS (1st in MJHL))
GOALIES
Pistons: Nick Deery 4-0, 1.69 GAA, .941 SV% & 1 SO
Blues: Scott Parsons 3-0, 2.33 GAA & .909 SV% / Brian Archibald 1-0, 3.00 GAA & .842 SV%
