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When the puck drops tonight in Creston, it will mark the fourth year in a row the Thundercats and Kimberley Dynamiters have met in the first round of the KIJHL playoffs.
The last couple of times Kimberley came out on top, including last year when the fourth-place Nitros upset the top-seeded Cats in five games.
Kimberley head coach Kevin MacKay said returning players could draw from that experience, but cautioned that neither team is the same.
“There’s a whole bunch of different guys with so much turnover every year, and some guys probably haven’t been in playoff situations at all,” said MacKay. “It’s a matter that those guys will give us some feedback, some energy and a little bit of confidence going in there.”
Having Adam Taylor on board should also help out, as he played three seasons in Creston and knows all about their rink’s weird tendencies, and how the puck will bounce off just about any surface.
“Creston does look to shoot the puck wide and try to bounce it out front, so hopefully we’re prepared for that,” said MacKay.
They’ve also got to be ready for badgering from fans and opponents alike.
“What’s happened all year with Creston in the eight games doesn’t mean anything anymore,” said the coach. “They’re going to try to disrupt a few guys and get under their skin. That’s going to be their game plan, and if we can stop them from doing that and we can be mentally focused, I think we’ll have great success.”
It will also help if Kimberley can exploit one of the strengths it has over Creston: its goaltending.
Tory Caldwell will start tonight, whose experience gives him the nod ahead of Michael Smith.
“Mike will just have to be ready if things don’t go well, but we’re pretty confident with our goaltending either way,” said MacKay. “Tory’s been outstanding for us since Day 1 and that gives him the benefit of the doubt. He’s played well in the last little while as well.”
Although Creston’s is a hard building to win in, MacKay said Kimberley isn’t looking to return home Monday with a split.
“We’re going in Friday night, and we’re going in to win that game. I think that teams get too far ahead of themselves. ‘Well, we need a split here.’ You know what? You go in there to win that first game, then on Saturday you go in with the mindset that we need to win this game. That’s the mindset I’m trying to get the guys into. It’s a best-of-one right now, so let’s win that one.”
Although there are a few players who are about to see their first playoff game, MacKay said they got a good taste of it last Sunday, when they beat the Golden Rockets to secure third place.
“It was a must-win game, and from start to finish we had good success there. We’ll just feed off Sunday’s game. This is what we’ve got to prepare for, and everybody came to play. We’ve got to have that. You’re going to mess up and things are going to go wrong from time to time, but it’s how you respond to that — your highs can’t be too high and your lows can’t be too low.”
Injury update
The three Dynamiters who’ve been injured the last few weeks have continued to inch closer to inclusion.
Corson Johnstone has been skating in practice and is awaiting medical clearance, while Brennan Foreman is in the opposite situation. He has the doctor’s permission, but hadn’t practiced before last night.
Finally, Chad Filatoff remains day to day.
