nivek_wahs
04-24-2007, 03:29 AM
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57836&Itemid=160
Cats need to turn the tables
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
(Sports) Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 01:01 PST
The Prince George Cougars lost the first two games of their second-round series against Everett, both on the road, and it had a different feel.
Then, the Cougars left the Everett Events Center with their heads held high, a sense of bravado that was an indignant denial of their dangerous plight.
It turned out, four games later, that the self-confidence was well-placed.
Fast forward to the present. The Cougars are down two games in the Western Conference final against the Vancouver Giants, in a series they really have no business being in based on their up-and-down regular season, and the mood is different.
The body language of the Cats is screaming defeat. The eyes lack life. The words of explanation of losing Games 1 and 2 at Pacific Coliseum were biting, not defiant.
More than systems, more than any superstitions, the Cougars have to find that swagger again, and they know it.
“We have to not only mentally prepare for the game but we have to physically be ready to go too,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, whose team suffered 3-2 and 6-2 defeats on the weekend.
“After the first two games, we know what to expect. We know Vancouver’s going to come after us -- they have all year. They’re a team that doesn’t give you a lot. In order to generate, you’ve got to match their intensity and try and one-up it.”
The Cougars go into tonight’s game at CN Centre having lost nine of 10 games against the Giants, regular season and playoffs included. Add in the playoff series of a year ago, which most of these players participated in, and Vancouver has claimed victory in 13 of 15.
Those numbers don’t happen by accident.
“We prepare the same way against all our opposition, so I don’t know how to explain those numbers,” said Giants head coach Don Hay.
“We break down their strengths and weaknesses. We respect who we’re playing against and we expect them to play well. But I really don’t have an answer why (the Giants have dominated the Cougars). You can go way too far in coming up with those reasons. There are times you match up better against some teams than you do against other teams.”
Giants captain Brett Festerling said his team can’t afford to take anything for granted. He points out that last season, the Cougars owned the Giants leading up to the playoffs, winning six of eight meetings, but Gilbert Brule and Co. caught fire and dumped Prince George in five games.
That started the Giants on a run to the WHL championship, the first for the franchise.
“We feel confident, but at the same time (the Cougars) can say the same thing from last year when they had all the advantages going into the playoffs,” said Festerling.
“In the playoffs, you never know what’s going to happen. Everett was in the same position coming in here last series, and P.G. played really well. We have to take it one game at a time and play our best.
“We thought we played well (in the first two games) and maybe they didn’t have their best games, so we know they’ll want to prove they can play better. Being up 3-0 is a big difference than the series being 2-1, and we’re focused on that. 2-1 gives them life.”
Festerling also offered this -- the Giants respect the Cougars and know they can’t afford to take them lightly.
“There’s a rivalry and hatred, and we expect them to play hard in front of their fans,” said Festerling. “P.G. is a team we get up for and play hard against.”
Yes, the Cats are 5-0 on home ice in these playoffs, but the Giants are the proud holders of a 12-game road winning streak in postseason games, with four of those this spring. That, too, is not an accident.
“We take a lot of pride in being a good road team in the regular season (18-12-3-3, fourth-best in the 2006-07 season) because we know you have to win on the road in the playoffs to be successful,” said Hay, as veteran a WHL coach as you get -- two Memorial Cup championships as a head man, a world junior title, and two stints as a top coach in the National Hockey League.
“It takes a lot of focus, a lot of preparation and a lot of execution to win games on the road. It’s tough to win on the road, but we start right at training camp and we look at parts of the schedule like playoff situations, sometimes playing three games in three nights in three different cities. We have high expectations. The streak we’re on is a credit to the players because they’ve done a good job of being ready to play the games.”
The key for Prince George is to stop treating the Giants like they’re the reincarnation of the Broad Street Bullies. So much is made of Vancouver’s reputation as a physical team with a punishing forecheck that one Cougars insider commented Monday that the Giants PR department has done a fine job of building up Vancouver’s ability to intimidate. The challenge for the Cougars’ coaching staff is to convince their players that the Giants really don’t hit any more, or any harder, than Everett did in bolting to the top ranking in the Canadian Hockey League for much of the season.
Cats need to turn the tables
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
(Sports) Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 01:01 PST
The Prince George Cougars lost the first two games of their second-round series against Everett, both on the road, and it had a different feel.
Then, the Cougars left the Everett Events Center with their heads held high, a sense of bravado that was an indignant denial of their dangerous plight.
It turned out, four games later, that the self-confidence was well-placed.
Fast forward to the present. The Cougars are down two games in the Western Conference final against the Vancouver Giants, in a series they really have no business being in based on their up-and-down regular season, and the mood is different.
The body language of the Cats is screaming defeat. The eyes lack life. The words of explanation of losing Games 1 and 2 at Pacific Coliseum were biting, not defiant.
More than systems, more than any superstitions, the Cougars have to find that swagger again, and they know it.
“We have to not only mentally prepare for the game but we have to physically be ready to go too,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, whose team suffered 3-2 and 6-2 defeats on the weekend.
“After the first two games, we know what to expect. We know Vancouver’s going to come after us -- they have all year. They’re a team that doesn’t give you a lot. In order to generate, you’ve got to match their intensity and try and one-up it.”
The Cougars go into tonight’s game at CN Centre having lost nine of 10 games against the Giants, regular season and playoffs included. Add in the playoff series of a year ago, which most of these players participated in, and Vancouver has claimed victory in 13 of 15.
Those numbers don’t happen by accident.
“We prepare the same way against all our opposition, so I don’t know how to explain those numbers,” said Giants head coach Don Hay.
“We break down their strengths and weaknesses. We respect who we’re playing against and we expect them to play well. But I really don’t have an answer why (the Giants have dominated the Cougars). You can go way too far in coming up with those reasons. There are times you match up better against some teams than you do against other teams.”
Giants captain Brett Festerling said his team can’t afford to take anything for granted. He points out that last season, the Cougars owned the Giants leading up to the playoffs, winning six of eight meetings, but Gilbert Brule and Co. caught fire and dumped Prince George in five games.
That started the Giants on a run to the WHL championship, the first for the franchise.
“We feel confident, but at the same time (the Cougars) can say the same thing from last year when they had all the advantages going into the playoffs,” said Festerling.
“In the playoffs, you never know what’s going to happen. Everett was in the same position coming in here last series, and P.G. played really well. We have to take it one game at a time and play our best.
“We thought we played well (in the first two games) and maybe they didn’t have their best games, so we know they’ll want to prove they can play better. Being up 3-0 is a big difference than the series being 2-1, and we’re focused on that. 2-1 gives them life.”
Festerling also offered this -- the Giants respect the Cougars and know they can’t afford to take them lightly.
“There’s a rivalry and hatred, and we expect them to play hard in front of their fans,” said Festerling. “P.G. is a team we get up for and play hard against.”
Yes, the Cats are 5-0 on home ice in these playoffs, but the Giants are the proud holders of a 12-game road winning streak in postseason games, with four of those this spring. That, too, is not an accident.
“We take a lot of pride in being a good road team in the regular season (18-12-3-3, fourth-best in the 2006-07 season) because we know you have to win on the road in the playoffs to be successful,” said Hay, as veteran a WHL coach as you get -- two Memorial Cup championships as a head man, a world junior title, and two stints as a top coach in the National Hockey League.
“It takes a lot of focus, a lot of preparation and a lot of execution to win games on the road. It’s tough to win on the road, but we start right at training camp and we look at parts of the schedule like playoff situations, sometimes playing three games in three nights in three different cities. We have high expectations. The streak we’re on is a credit to the players because they’ve done a good job of being ready to play the games.”
The key for Prince George is to stop treating the Giants like they’re the reincarnation of the Broad Street Bullies. So much is made of Vancouver’s reputation as a physical team with a punishing forecheck that one Cougars insider commented Monday that the Giants PR department has done a fine job of building up Vancouver’s ability to intimidate. The challenge for the Cougars’ coaching staff is to convince their players that the Giants really don’t hit any more, or any harder, than Everett did in bolting to the top ranking in the Canadian Hockey League for much of the season.