Randy SavoieWhile the Pandas hockey team doesn’t have a playoff game scheduled until the end of the month, their season finale against the UBC Thunderbirds might as well be considered a playoff series.
The Pandas — who are coming off back-to-back wins despite a mediocre performance against a banged up Calgary Dinos squad — sit at the top of the Canada West standings with 57 points will host the second place Thunderbirds who sit hot on their heels with 54 points. The winner of the weekend series will finish first in the conference, and as a result, will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
Pandas head coach Howie Draper said this weekend’s series with UBC will be important for his team heading into playoffs after a lackluster performance against the Calgary Dinos last weekend.
“It’s playoff hockey,” Draper said. “It’s important that our team gets into that mindset now after a little bit of a lull against Calgary. There was a little bit of lethargy, it seemed we didn’t have the jump, or the mental and physical energy that we need.”
Draper said he attributes most of last weekend’s poor play to a general lack of energy due to his team going through exams, but grinding through difficult times is important to becoming a championship team.
“We told them after the weekend in Calgary that they’re going to be tired through playoffs and they have to be ready for it,” he said. “It’s a grind. It’s three to four hard weeks of hockey where everybody is playing at their best where you might be playing Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday night, three games in a row.
“It can be very difficult. They have to realize that they can push their bodies harder than they think they can. It’s a mental thing, and that’s what I hope they learned from last weekend.”
While last weekend’s performance wasn’t as strong as Draper would have liked, the Pandas still came out with two wins. On Friday, the Pandas took down the Dinos at Clare Drake Arena with a 4–1 victory. The next night, they traveled to Calgary and earned a 2–0 win despite being outshot 24–17.
With the shutout, Pandas goaltender Lindsey Post set a Canada West conference record for most in a season with 10.
For Draper, what’s most impressive about Post breaking the shutout record is that she did it against high quality competition.
“It’s great to see because she’s earned the vast majority of those shutouts,” he said. “Those shutouts from the past (record holding) goalies were against teams who only got three or four shots a game, while (Post) has had to face way more shots than any of those goalies had to face.
“She’s managed to achieved this in a much more competitive league at a much more competitive time so it’s quite an amazing feat.”
While breaking the single season shutout record is an impressive individual accomplishment for Post, Draper said he believes it’s something the entire team can hang its hat on.
“I think it’s a little bit of both, a team accomplishment and an individual one,” he said. “She’s an outstanding goalie and she deserves to be in considerations as one of the best in the league, but I feel generally speaking that we play very well around her.
“Our defensive system really smothers other teams. We allow very little opportunities from good scoring positions, but when that system breaks down, she shines. You need goalies of that calibre to compete for championships.”
