It is going to be tough and it is going to be physical as the Broncos move into the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff series against the Melfort Mustangs.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 really what it鈥檚 going to come down to is who wants it more and who鈥檚 willing to pay more of a price to win,鈥� noted Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen too many playoff series that hasn鈥檛 looked like that.鈥�
The Broncos will kick off that series on the road, with game one in Melfort on March 16.
Heading into the series the banged up Broncos will enjoy a ten-day break between their final regular season contest and game one of the playoffs.
Having such a lengthy break will be huge, says Haugan, who notes to further enhance the rest and recovery factor the players were given some time off and were able to go home.
Players spent the latter part of the week of March 5 away from the rink, before returning to Humboldt to prepare for their first round playoff series on March 10.
Broncos stumble into playoffs
The Broncos head into the playoffs as an interesting case.
After dominating much of the second half of the season, piling up wins at an impressive rate, the Broncos took their foot off the gas, electing to rest many of their top players over the final few games, and ended the season losers of three
straight including the last two by a combined score of 11-2.
Despite the up and down end to the season, Haugan notes it is inconsequential.
鈥淗istory shows you that teams have gone into the playoffs smoking hot and they鈥檝e lost out in four straight. Teams have gone in slumping really bad and they鈥檝e been able to go on a nice run so really it means nothing.鈥�
Haugan notes that has been a focus of the team all season, saying what the team did yesterday has no bearing on what they will do today or tomorrow.
鈥淥ur sole priority is taking care of today and becoming better and that hasn鈥檛 changed since the day one that I got here,鈥� he noted.
It does not matter what has happened in the last few games of the regular season, says Haugan. All that matters now is getting better for the future.
鈥淲e鈥檇 be crazy to put so much stock and emphasis into those last kind of three games. But some of the things we are going to fix is some of the habits and hopefully get guys鈥� focus back.鈥�
Head-to-head
The Broncos come into the series against the Mustangs having finished with six fewer wins, and 12 fewer points.
鈥淲e know that they play a heavy game, we know what they鈥檙e about,鈥� noted Haugan of what is facing them.
鈥淭hey going into this playoff series probably on more of a high than we are because they beat Nipawin a couple of times.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檝e got arguably the best D-man in the league with Loch Morrison, they鈥檝e got good goaltending with (Evan) Plotnik and they just got (Tyler) Heidt back and they got (Kayle) Tosh. They generate a lot of offense from the back end and really all four lines can play and play a real heavy game.鈥�
Despite the Mustangs carrying a significant edge in points into the series, the Broncos know they can play with the Mustangs having finished with a 3-3 record, which featured two straight wins and wins in three of the final four games between the two teams this season.
Despite holding the recent edge, much like their three game slide, Haugan does not put much stock into their recent success against the Mustangs, noting it is inconsequential, pointing to last year against Nipawin as proof.
鈥淟ast year when we went into the Nipawin series, we鈥檇 won three of six and we weren鈥檛 able to win a game. Goaltending鈥檚 going to be critical for us. Everything that we do, attention to detail is just magnified, every decision you make and you鈥檝e got to be able to compete and execute.鈥�
Mustangs defense is offensive
While the two teams played a pretty even season series, the one area the Mustangs dominated the Broncos was production from the back end, where the duo of Loch Morrison and Adam Hergott combined for three goals and eight assists.
鈥淥ur tracking鈥檚 got to be really good. We鈥檝e got to come back with a purpose and we鈥檝e got to be aware and alert and really just focused,鈥� noted Haugan.
One of the areas the Broncos will have to be at their best is in their own zone, notes Haugan, who says the Mustangs forwards do a great job below the hash marks, and once a team starts collapsing on their forwards, it opens up space for the defensemen to operate.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to be really dialed in shift and out. But if we can play the way we are and play to our strengths, which is skating and our speed.鈥�
Broncos top line shines
While the Mustangs got a significant amount of production out of their defensemen, it was the Broncos鈥� forwards, particularly their top line who did the damage for the green and gold.
The pair of Logan Schatz and Nick Shumlanski, who only played in two of the six contests, as well as Conner Lukan and former Mustang Jaxon Joseph, both of whom spent time on the Broncos鈥� top line, combined for nine goals and ten assists against the Mustangs this season.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got some slick guys up front who can hopefully continue to put the puck in the back of the net and we should be able to counter how they play. It鈥檚 going to be a tough series.鈥�
Power play struggles
As has been a concern all season, the Broncos鈥� power play struggled against the Mustangs managing just three goals on 23 opportunities.
鈥淗opefully we can get the timely goals on the power play we鈥檙e going to need but honestly it鈥檚 been a weak link in our game this year. Without a doubt it has been. But we鈥檝e got to find ways to simplify that and try to generate more,鈥� noted Haugan.
While special teams can play a major role in deciding a series, Haugan points to last year鈥檚 series against Nipawin as proof that there is more to winning playoff games, than winning the special teams battle.
鈥淟ast year against Nipawin we won the special teams battle. We had a better power play, we had a better penalty kill against them and we lost the series...The more that that clicks obviously the better chance you have.鈥�
The Broncos come into the series trailing in the all-time head-to-head playoff meetings between the two teams having won just four of nine series, but the Broncos have won the last two series, and four of the last five dating back to 2002-2003.
The green and gold will look to extend that streak starting March 16 on the road, with game two coming in Melfort on March 17.
