Little to choose between Royals, Cats
Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor to play for Central-West senior title
There wasn’t a whole lot to choose between Corner Brook Royals and Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts during the season, so why should the final be any different?
The respective coaches don’t think there will be much of a difference, and they are prepared for a tough series.
The teams open the best-ofseven Central-West Senior Hockey League championship and the Herder Memorial Trophy final at the Corner Brook Civic Centre at 7:30 tonight with Game 2 set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday before the series switches to Joe Byrne Memorial Stadium in Grand Falls-Windsor next weekend.
Royals’ coach Darren Langdon said while the two teams are evenly matched, he feels the team that plays better defensively in the series will win it.
“Both teams have three or four really skilled players who can put the puck in the net and, while there are a half dozen players not as skilled as the imports, they can score as well. But I still think it will come down to who plays the better defence,” said Langdon.
The Royals coach said the team didn’t do so well in the last two games they played in Grand Falls-Windsor and his charges, “definitely have to play better in their barn. It’s a smaller rink and Grand Falls is pretty physical there, so we’ve got to be ready to handle it and fight through it.”
Cataracts’ coach Shane Lukinchuk, meanwhile, was a little surprised at how quickly the finalists were decided.
Both finalists swept their semifinal series in four straight games, with the Royals knocking off the Gander Flyers and the Cataracts getting past the Clarenville Caribous.
“Both of our teams are coming off a good first round of hockey. I don’t think anyone would have said both semis would end in four straight,” Lukinchuk said. “Both teams are doing the right things at the right time. They are very similar. The Royals are well coached and structured team that doesn’t give a lot up.”
Lukinchuk says the difference may come down to which team outplays the other’s depth.
Breaks often factor into a final, but the Cats’ coach points out, “You’ve got to do the right things to create your own luck.”
He said part of that means playing consistently.
“We’ve shown that we can be very mediocre, which happened throughout the year.
“You could say we were inconsistent. But you might say that has something to do with the parity in the league.”
Certainly, there was little to choose between the Royals and Cataracts in the regular season.
The Royals finished in first place, one point ahead of the Cataracts and Clarenville Caribous, to earn the home-ice advantage.
The Royals and Cataracts split their eight games during the regular season with the Cats outscoring the Royals 32-24 in those games, including 17-5 in the last two.
Grand Falls scored 10 more goals than Corner Brook (99-89) while both teams gave up 82 goals on the season.
The Cats’ Cam Fergus won the scoring race with 39 points, while teammate Colin Circelli was third, five points back. Matt Bragg was the Royals’ top scorer with 33 points, good enough for fifth place in league scoring. Teammate Phil Mangan registered 30 points.
However, Lukinchuk said his team has worked hard the last couple of weeks of the season and he expects that to carry over into the playoffs.
“We created a lot of our own luck by doing the right things,” he said.
“Any given night, all four of our lines have the ability to score and that’s a nice luxury to have.”
The Cats’ coach said he’ll have a full lineup of players available to start the final which, he says, is probably the first time this season.
“Both teams have three or four really skilled players who can put the puck in the net and, while there are a half dozen players not as skilled as the imports, they can score as well.” Darren Langdon, coach Corner Brook Royals