‘Crunch time’ for Hitmen in playoff drive
Micheal Zipp doesn’t plan on making any big pre-game speeches.
The Calgary Hitmen captain is confident that his teammates know how important it is to bounce back with a win over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday (7 p.m., Sportsnet 960 The Fan) at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“It’s coming down to that crunch time and every weekend’s a big weekend now,” said Zipp, whose team will also host the Saskatoon Blades on Sunday (4 p.m., Sportsnet 960 The Fan). “The good thing about this group is, all these guys, they’re motivated already. We all want the best.
“They know how big these games are. I don’t have to say much off the ice, because they’ll be ready to go and they’ll be motivated and hungry.”
The Hitmen (20-26-10) missed out on a chance to climb closer to a Western Hockey League playoff spot when they lost 3-2 in overtime to the Edmonton Oil Kings (20-334) on Sunday.
Tyler Robertson’s 14th goal of the season at 1:12 of the extra session helped the Oil Kings end a woeful 16-game losing streak.
“They came out hungry. They wanted to end that slide, for sure,” said Zipp, who stressed that the Hitmen have to “want it more” on Friday.
“It’s going to be a big game coming into the ’Dome here. We’re going to feed off the crowd and take it back to them. They fed off their crowd in Edmonton. Now we’ve got to do the same.”
When Calgary coach Mark French appointed Zipp as captain, he knew he could count on the 20-year-old veteran to lead the way.
“He’s done a really good job, in those moments of adversity, of really keeping this group together, getting them to refocus and reset at important times, and I think we’re fortunate to have Micheal be our leader in this situation,” said French. “He’s a guy within the room who certainly feels comfortable talking and holding guys accountable when needed.
“I also think he’s a guy that, at times, will step back and let his play define his leadership a little bit more.”
Forward Jake Kryski, who was acquired from the Kelowna Rockets at the WHL trade deadline in exchange for Carsen Twarynski and a conditional third-round draft pick, has found it easy to take direction from Zipp.
“He’s obviously a good leader,” said Kryski. “He’s the kind of guy who runs the show in the room.”
Calgary is currently three points behind Saskatoon (23-26-7) for the final wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. According to Zipp, the Hitmen have actually set their sights on passing the Red Deer Rebels (23-26-9) to finish third in the Central Division, which would likely earn them a first-round playoff series against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Although the Hitmen are five points back of the Rebels, Calgary has a pair of games in hand on Red Deer.
“Right now that’s our goal, to play Lethbridge in the playoffs and catch up and get ahead of Red Deer here,” said Zipp.
Kryski has no problem with the daunting task laid out by his new captain.
“That for sure would be nice,” he said. “I think we can catch them. We’ve got to just keep playing the way we can. We’ll be getting the points soon and hopefully we can pass Red Deer.”
French pointed out that the Hitmen still have three games left against the Rebels, in addition to a pair versus the Blades.
“I think we’re probably all mindful within the room of where the standings are and feel somewhat, I know I do, that we control our own destiny,” said French. “There’s a lot of things that fall within our hands.”