Joey Payeur
Wayne Strachan isn’t letting a season’s worth of dominance over his team’s semi-final opponent cloud his vision.
The head coach and general manager of the Fort Frances Lakers has genuine concerns as his first-place team heads into its best-of-seven semi-final clash against the fourth-place Thunder Bay North Stars, which kicks off Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
“This series worries me,” admitted Strachan, whose Lakers (43-11-1-1) won the season series against the North Stars (27-25-4) with an 11-3 record and finished 30 points ahead of them in the standings.
“Thunder Bay has had a tough year injury- and sickness-wise, and has not had a fair shot of icing their entire team,” he noted.
“What has happened means nothing now,” Strachan stressed. “We need to get that in our heads.
“The playoffs [are] a whole new start to everyone’s seasons, and they have their feet wet in a series together and have played well,” he said, referring to Thunder Bay’s 3-0 sweep of the last-place English River Miners in their first-round series last week.
“We need to prepare both physically, but moreso mentally, to be ready for the first period Friday night,” he warned.
“Everyone is on an even playing field and the team that rises to the top, has its guns firing and plays solid defence, will prevail,” Strachan added.
“We need to be ready for an entirely different team coming our way and prepare in that manner.”
Strachan is on guard for the solid offensive threat presented by Thunder Bay’s top two lines, led by Matthias Gardiman, Nicholas Nigro, and recently-named SIJHL rookie-of-the-year Bradley Belisle.
But that’s hardly the only threat in Strachan’s eyes.
“They play with a lot of intensity, they have a very physical style of play, and they have a deadly power play that can hurt you if you give them opportunities,” he noted.
“[And] you can’t forget about Eric Mann in the net,” Strachan added, referring to the SIJHL’s reigning top goalie award winner.
“He is one of the best in the league.
“I believe we need to push the pace, use our depth throughout the lineup, stick to the game plan, and be disciplined,” he stressed.
Nine Lakers topped the 30-point plateau this season, led by Wyatt Cota (68) and league MVP finalist Lucas DeBenedet (58), with Matt Vela (29) and Bowen Alcock (28) on the cusp of joining that group, as well.
As for the goaltending battle, the Lakers like their chances with Nathan Park, who posted a 14-4 record, along with the league’s best GAA (1.92), save percentage (.931), and shutouts (three), since joining the team in December.
Having not played in two full weeks since their regular-season finale back on March 13 against the Miners, Strachan is aware scraping off the rust certainly could be an issue.
“Well, I like and dislike the layoff,” he remarked.
“I like it because we get almost healthy and will add four guys back to the lineup that make us better on the ice,” he noted.
“I dislike the layoff because it is a lot of time between games and the competitiveness of practice is not the same as a game.”
It will be a revitalized Lakers’ bunch come game night Friday night as almost all of their walking wounded are ready to go for the post-season.
Defenceman Gordon Campbell, along with forwards Mason Meyer and Nolan Ross, have been regular participants in practice since the weekend and will be dressed for Game 1 barring no setbacks this week.
Forward Colton Spicer skated last week in practice, but missed back-to-back practices due to illness and will be monitored all week.
Forward Donovan Cousineau, meanwhile, has skated lightly on his own but Strachan didn’t believe he would be available for the semi-finals.
Slow starts plagued the Lakers at various times this season, with their 64 goals scored in the first frame the lowest total out of the three periods.
But Strachan warned that statistic doesn’t tell the whole story.
“I believe we improved immensely in outscoring our opponents in the first period throughout the season and our overall preparation for games,” he said.
“At one time, we had allowed more goals than we scored in the first.
“The second scenario is we may have scored the least amount in the first, but we also allowed the least out of our three periods, which means we were in hockey games going into the second, where we produced the most [99 goals],” he noted.
Strachan also believes his team won’t surrender its grip on the Bill Salonen Cup easily because it already has an automatic berth in the Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament here April 28-May 2 as the host squad.
“I’m not worried about it affecting us at this time,” he remarked.
“I believe we are focused and motivated to win a championship and go into the Dudley strong.”
Game 2 of the series goes here Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The series then moves to Thunder Bay for Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Tuesday.
Game 5, if necessary, will be back here next Thursday (April 2), with a Game 6 slated for Thunder Bay on April 4 if needed.
Should the series go the distance, Game 7 will be played here April 6.
The second-place Minnesota Iron Rangers and third-place Dryden GM Ice Dogs are squaring off in the other semi-final.
It gets underway Friday night in Hoyt Lakes.
