ICE – Broncos Playoff Rematch

By Jeff Bromley
Exactly 361 days ago, the stage was set in an eerily similar way. The Kootenay ICE had just finished off a four game sweep of the Red Deer Rebels. The Swift Current Broncos had just come off a hard fought, six-game series with the Prince Albert Raiders. Fast forward almost a year to the day and you’ll find that as much as things change, the more they stay the same.

After subduing the Moose Jaw Warriors in four straight games, the Kootenay ICE continue the defense of their WHL title tonight (Friday) against the Swift Current Broncos (7pm at the Cranbrook Rec/Plex). The Broncos, coming off a hard-fought series win against the Brandon Wheat Kings four games to two, are backstopped by former ICE goaltender B.J. Boxma who was obtained in a trade by the Broncos on October 24, 2000.

It is sufficed then to say that the motivational factors coming into this Eastern Conference Semifinal series aren’t exactly lacking for the Swift Current Broncos. That being said, Kootenay ICE Head Coach Ryan McGill says he and his charges aren’t going to change anything to so far what has been a blueprint for success in the 2001 WHL Playoffs. “We’re going to prepare basically the same way we prepared for Moose Jaw,” offered McGill. “The biggest keys for us is making sure that we’re playing our systems and they’re not going to change. We don’t feel that just because we’re playing Swift Current that we have to totally change the way we forecheck or totally change a certain way that we play the power-play. “We’re preparing ourselves for a physical series. We want to initiate that right off the bat because they just came off a six game series.”

Adding to the similarities of last year’s playoff match-up, the ICE are again facing the specter of an extended lay off between the first and second rounds, whereas the Broncos are coming off only a three-day break. Last season the Broncos took game one of the series by a 2-1 score after the ICE came out somewhat flat after the break. Although concerned, Coach McGill doesn’t see that happening again this time around.

“It does (concern me), but at the same time we’ve given the guys enough time off,” said McGill. “Our approach this year is a little different than last year. We gave them (the players) two or three days off and had a couple of fun practices and now we’ve got back to work today.

“I don’t think that there’s any reason for us to come out flat on Friday just from the way we’ve handled this break. I think that we’ve done a better job than last year.”

The amount of penalties being called in the playoffs this spring is enough of a concern for any playoff embattled coach and fatigue becomes a looming factor when your club’s special team’s and subsequently your top two lines are garnering the lion’s share of the ice- time. Coach McGill’s solution to enable him to roll three or four lines more often is simple – discipline. “We have to be a disciplined hockey club to roll as many guys as we can,” said McGill. “It’s tough to say. I guess it depends on how they (the referees) want to call the penalties. I thought Moose Jaw did a good job in drawing us into penalties but I think that Swift Current doesn’t play quite that type of style. They want to play more of an end to end game.

“The biggest thing for us is to stay disciplined and stay out of the box to make sure that we do get everybody on the ice because we know how long and hard it is to play a lot of hockey games in a short amount of time.”

Quick Hits – The ICE won the season series between the two clubs 3-1….. Another former ICE player, Craig Priestlay won’t be seeing any action in this series and none at all unless the Broncos go deep into the playoffs. Priestlay was handed a ten game suspension for a match/intent to injure penalty late in game five of the series against the Wheat Kings for a vicious cross-check. Teammate James Hiebert will also miss the first two games of the ICE-Broncos series because of three game suspension resulting from the same altercation….. The ICE are getting their scoring from all the usual suspects - Blatny, Stoll, DeCecco, Jaffray et al - but they are also getting a much needed boost from some unlikely sources. Defensemen Cole Fischer is stepping up to the playoff plate and has contributed six points from the blueline. Aaron Rome has also found his offensive touch for the playoffs by chipping in a goal and three helpers in the first round. Good for a point per game pace. “Those guys (Rome, Fischer, Hamula, Iannone) are the guys that we need to contribute,” said Coach McGill. “We need goals from our third and fourth line in this series and we need goals from our back end from unlikely sources. Not that they have to change their game but we need them going as much as everybody else.”… ICE D-man Trevor Johnson who probably more than anybody on the squad welcomed the eight-day break to help heal a nagging ankle injury, doesn’t think that the return of his former teammate B.J. Boxma will much of a distraction but admits that Boxma will have all the motivation he’ll need to play well against the ICE. “Definitely, he’ll want to step it up and he’ll be gunning for us but we’ll be gunning for him too.”