Crushers head to Dieppe for Game 3
Michael Dill and Regan Spears were the only two Crushers in their dressing room – early arrivals one early September afternoon.
Dill was a rookie stepping into the Crushers lineup, having just turned 18 two days before – he would be a pleasant surprise in a rookie season that saw him lead the team in scoring and capture Maritime Hockey League rookie of the year honours – while the veteran Spears was looking at his last season of junior hockey.
“I was just trying to make the team, and to see where I could play here,” said Dill.
“All of us rookies have learned a lot this season and we were ready for the playoffs,”
Flash forward seven months later, the Crushers have survived two physical playoff rounds in the South Division and after having tied the Kent Cup final against the Dieppe Commandos with Sunday’s 4-1 win at home, they will look to steal a victory in Dieppe on Wednesday and grab themselves a series lead.
Dill said that the pressure of the post-season has not been an issue with the Crushers’ younger players.
“You embrace it – every game is bigger now, so it just gets you more excited to play.”
Back in September, Spears spoke of his desire to win a championship in his final year of junior, and he and other 20-year-old Crushers would occasionally allude to the possibility during the Maritime Hockey League’s regular season grind, although never without being asked about it first.
“It’s hard not to have something like that in the back of your mind,” said Spears, who has 11 points in the playoffs (3G, 8A).
“But if you look too far ahead you forget about each individual game.”
Dieppe’s Olympic-sized ice surface wasn’t something the Crushers had a lot of trouble adjusting to in the opening game of the series.
“You have a lot more time than you think,” on the larger ice, Dill said.
At the Pictou County Wellness Centre, “you look up and someone’s on you but in Dieppe, you have an extra few seconds to take an extra look. We have a lot of skilled players, we can excel on that ice like (the Commandos) do.”
The two teams return to Pictou County for a Thursday night’s Game 4, starting at 7 p.m. Game 5 is Saturday in New Brunswick, while a sixth game, if necessary, would be played Monday night at the PCWC.
News and Notes: Garrett Lambke is in the midst of a fivegame points streak (1G, 6A) and leads the Crushers with 12 assists in the playoffs… Forward Chad Cullen is still out with a lower-body injury and won’t play in Game 3. His status is day-to-day… Cody Drover leads Dieppe with 24 points (4G, 20A).