Brookes backing Stampede to make final
ASTON Brookes and his Stampede teammates are hoping it will be a season of three halves.
The Queenstown ice hockey team is either four (possibly five) games away from another championship, or two games away from an earlier than desired finish to the season.
The Stampede hosts the Canterbury Red Devils in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League semifinals at the Queenstown Ice Arena tonight and tomorrow night.
It is an aggregate score situation, and the overall winner will head north to face the West Auckland Admirals with the Birgel Cup at stake in the bestofthree finals series next weekend.
The Stampede was ruthlessly dominant in the first half of the regular season but had a few speed wobbles in the second half, dropping from first in the league to second, and losing the direct path to a home final.
‘‘That’s always the goal, and it would have been nice to finish top because we obviously like playing in Queenstown,’’ Brookes said.
‘‘But we’ve only got ourselves to blame, unfortunately.
‘‘I think we maybe got lucky a few times in the first half of the season, but we definitely lagged a lot in the second half, and dropped some crucial points that we shouldn’t have.
‘‘We couldn’t score goals in a couple of games, or maybe we weren’t just quite as sharp defensively.’’
Ideally, the Stampede will rediscover its best form this weekend and for the finals against the humming Admirals.
Goaltender Brookes, who has played 12 seasons in the NZIHL and two seasons in the Australian league, has been here plenty of times before.
He is wary enough of the Red Devils — they won the most recent of four clashes with the Stampede this season — but backs the home team’s ability to get the job done at home and reach another final.
‘‘We always like to keep things confident and cool, and we’re still very optimistic.
‘‘Canterbury are playing quite well at the moment. We can’t expect to win every game, but we’ll certainly make sure we take the next two.’’
Brookes, who has shared time between the sticks with Joel Hasselman this season, has saved 308 of the 333 shots on his goal for the very decent save rate of 92.49%.
Winning playoff hockey required a combination of stopping goal attempts and converting them at the other end, he said.
‘‘They’re both equally as important.
‘‘Personally, I’m all about stopping the goals, but it’s hard to win games if we don’t score goals, so the boys have been practising a lot around game scenarios.’’
The Stampede is missing one of its talismans this weekend.
Star defenceman Callum Burns, who had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 16 games, broke his hand in the final game of the regular season.
‘‘He’s had a fantastic season and is really a big loss for us,’’ Brookes said.
‘‘That’s obviously disappointing for Callum and for us, but we’ve got plenty of guys who can step up and make it happen.
‘‘We want to keep ploughing forward and give it a redhot crack.’’
Brookes has made the tough call to withdraw from the Ice Blacks for their world championship in Turkey next year.
He is flat out with his shortstaffed business and also has a wedding to attend in Greece not long after the tournament.
■ The New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League has its semifinals in Dunedin this weekend.
Otago fans can watch the derby between the Dunedin Thunder and the Wakatipu Wild at 3.30pm tomorrow, while the Auckland Steel plays the Canterbury Inferno at 6.15pm.
The final is at 10am on Sunday.