Wildcats looking to upset Rebels in SFMAAAHL playoffs
The Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats are currently battling the Regina Rebels in the second round of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs. The bestof-five series opened Wednesday in Regina. Check swbooster.com for results.
Game two will be played tonight at 7:15 p.m. at Fairview West Arena. Game three is slated for Sunday in Regina. Game four, if necessary, would be played Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. in Swift Current and game five would be Thursday back in Regina.
The Rebels finished first in the regular season with a 24-2-1-1 record and the line of Chelsea Perepeluk, Emma Waldenberger, and Delaney Frey were the top three scorers in the league with 165 points in 28 games, accounting for almost 57 percent of their team’s goals.
“Regina is a really skilled hockey team and their number one line is really dynamic,” explained Wildcats head coach Terry Pavely. “The key for us is going to be to shut that line down. They have the three of them all on one line. If we can play good defensive hockey with whatever unit we decide to play against them then we have a pretty good chance.”
The Wildcats lost all four games to Regina in the regular season but they were in every game, including two one-goal games in February, one that was decided in a shootout.
“That’s what happened in the games we played against them, all four were really tight. We did a very good job against their top line… If you can shut down that first line you have an opportunity.
The Rebels scored well over twice as many goals as the Wildcats and allowed 10 less goals during the regular season.
They got out to a slow start in the playoffs, needing overtime to defeat the last-place Battleford Sharks before sweeping them with 4-0 and 10-0 wins.
The Wildcats are coming off their own sweep of the Saskatoon Stars when they allowed only two goals over three games.
The Rebels had already scored four powerplay goals in the playoffs heading into the series.
“The big thing against Regina is you have to be disciplined.
“They have a very potent powerplay. Throughout the regular season they would often go three-forfive, two-for-five on the powerplay. They were just beating a lot of teams scoring a lot of powerplay goals,” Pavely added.
“We just need to have faith in each other. We need to work as a team and win our battles and stay confident,” added goaltender Jasey Book, who won all three of the Wildcats’ opening round games with a 0.63 goals against average and a .974 save percentage.