File Photo: Justin Bell

Puck Pandas host Huskies in first round of playoffs

A season of strong play has paid off for the puck Pandas. As the second-place team in Canada West, they’ve earned the right to host the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the first round of playoffs this weekend.

“I think everyone’s feeling relieved that we’ve clinched second and we don’t have to go back to Saskatchewan,” head coach Howie Draper said.

The Huskies and Pandas have been at each other’s throats all season, with the Huskies beating the Pandas in three out of four matches between the two, twice in overtime and once by a single point. It was the 14-3-7 Pandas’ seven overtime wins overall that helped them stay one step ahead of the 16-6-2 Huskies in the final standings. The results of this weekend’s best-of-three will determine who continues on to CanWest finals Feb. 24-26.

“I would imagine they’re of the feeling that this is going to be one of the best opportunities that they’ve had in a while to get to nationals. They’re a very strong team and very potent offensively, so I would think that they’re chomping at the bit to get going,” Draper said. “They don’t really have a lot of weakness. They’ve got a lot of depth from their first to their fourth lines and they’ve got some players that can put the puck away if given the chance and they’ve got strong goaltending.”

With that kind of opposition stacked against them, the Pandas will be stepping up their own game. Draper said playoff mentality is different from regular season because with so much on the line the whole execution of play is upped and it’s “not unlike watching the NHL playoffs.”

The Pandas are entering the games against Saskatchewan on a high note. Last weekend, the Green and Gold ended their regular season with two wins on the road in Regina — 3-0 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. Draper is hopeful that the intensity he saw in those games will carry over into playoffs.

“The first game, I felt Regina started off strong. Then we got the first goal and that seemed to deflate them a little bit, and we built on that,” he said. “The second game again we got the first goal, and the first two periods I felt we pretty much owned. The third period was the last period of their season so they came out and threw everything that they could at us, and as a result they got us on our heels a bit and almost managed to stage a comeback.

“The great thing about that period was that it was one of the first times that we showed that we’re able to be resilient and hold the fort when the other team was vying for that tying goal.”

The Pandas are also hoping Calgary falls to Lethbridge this weekend. If the Dinos and the Pandas both win, Calgary will host finals — otherwise it will be home ice again for the Green and Gold.

And while as hosts the Pandas are guaranteed a spot at nationals March 8-11, the better they do in these two rounds of playoffs, the higher up the team will be seeded. Draper said he’d like to see his team seeded higher than fifth or sixth, where they’ve been placed the past couple years.

Games against the Huskies are best-of-three this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Clare Drake Arena.

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