The matchup is the same but the North Van Wolf Pack hope the results will be different as they take on the Delta Ice Hawks in a first round Pacific Junior Hockey League playoffs series for the second year in a row.
Last season the second seeded Hawks completed a four-game sweep of the third-place Pack, denying them their first ever playoff win in franchise history. A lot has changed in a year, however, as North Van scored second place in the league's Tom Shaw Conference this season, earning home ice advantage and potentially a mental edge as they try to get their revenge starting Tuesday at the Ladner Leisure Centre.
"It's nice that we're now the two seed and, maybe some would say, the favourite in the series but they've got a good team and they work hard, so we've got to make sure that we take care of the little details against them and play our game," said North Van head coach and general manager Matt Samson, adding that he likes how his team stacks up against Delta this season as compared to last.
"I like the matchup better, I like our skill level better now. In terms of scorers, I think we're a little bit better. I think our defence as a whole is a little bit ahead of them as well."
Several of North Van's top players from last year are back again, one year older and wiser and looking for redemption. The goaltending duo of Braden Krogfoss and Anders Ten Vaanholt is still intact, with both goalies coming off strong seasons again. Both ranked top five in the league in wins, goals against average and save percentage. The Pack's defence saw a lot of turnover but they've come together well, led by Dyllan Quon who is first in the league in scoring for a defenceman with 42 points in 40 games. Up front the team is lead once again by the one-two punch of Spencer Quon and Marcus Houck. Spencer Quon - Dyllan's twin brother - broke his own franchise record in points, notching 69 in 43 games heading into Saturday's regular season finale to rank second in the league. Houck, meanwhile, racked up 25 goals and 49 points in 38 games, notching more than a point a game in a season that was shortened by injury.
"Obviously Delta is going to know about these guys and they're going to be concentrating on them," said Samson. "I think you need some of those third and fourth line guys to pitch in, and I think we have the depth this year whereas I don't think we quite had the depth up front last year."
On the other side of the ice the Hawks no longer have Anthony Brito or Aaron Merrick, two players who came up huge in last year's sweep. They do, however, have Mak Barden back, their leading scorer last season. Barden started this year in the BCHL but returned to the Ice Hawks in January, notching 13 points in the 12 games he played with the Hawks.
"He's getting back in the swing of things. We're going to have to focus on him," said Samson. "(Last year) they had two very skilled lines. This year they're spread out a little bit but they've got some good shooters. Obviously with Mak there he's a guy that can take the game over. He's a game-changer, he's got great vision. He's a 21-year-old so obviously I expect him to have a good series in his last year of junior hockey."
The Ice Hawks had a bit of a tumultuous season. They dropped head coach Roger Ross in January following a stretch of seven losses in eight games, replacing him with Derek Chichak. They still, however, had a small edge in the season series against North Van, scoring three wins while the Wolf Pack picked up two wins and one overtime victory.
"They're a hard working team and they're a physical team and they've got two really talented goaltenders," said Samson. "It's going to be a tight series for sure."
Handling the emotions of a playoff series will be crucial, said Samson, adding that his team now has the experience to do just that.
"There are going to be ups and downs - we're going to get a call from the officials we don't like, we're going to get a bad bounce, we might be behind in some games. It's (important) to keep that emotional focus and stay up, just really be balanced that way."
As long as his team executes their systems on the ice and stays out of the penalty box, Samson believes they can finally get over the hump and win a playoff series. In fact, he's aiming for more than that this year, but first thing's first.
"It would be huge for us," he said. "We've never had a playoff series win as a franchise. I'd be really excited to get that accomplished. We won't be satisfied with that, but it would be the next step and hopefully (we'll go) beyond that this year."
The series comes back to North Vancouver's Harry Jerome recreation centre for game 2 Friday night at 7:45 p.m. and game 3 Saturday night at 7 p.m. Samson said he's hoping North Shore hockey fans will come out and see the action.
"We feed off the crowd so we're hoping to get good support for the playoffs," he said. "It's not going to be a sweep either way this year, we've just got to be ready. I think the boys are ready to go. I'm pretty excited."
