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nivek_wahs
03-24-2006, 01:00 PM
from reginapats.com via LeaderPost

Series 'could go either way'

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Friday, March 24, 2006

Guarantees? There are no guarantees.

If you're expecting a bold playoff prediction to emanate from the locker room of the Regina Pats or Saskatoon Blades, forget it. The prognosticators have been conspicuously silent in anticipation of this first-round playoff clash, which begins tonight in Saskatoon.

The Pats have gone out of their way to concede the favourite's role to their more-experienced counterpart. The Blades are having none of it, although both sides do appear to agree on one key issue: Expect this matchup to be worth the price of admission.

"It could go either way," offered Saskatoon captain Wacey Rabbit. "Both teams are very strong and had good seasons with 40 wins. Both teams play a similar style. It'll be very fast and very intense.

"It's going to be a hard-fought battle and it'll probably go the distance."

Here's a look at how the teams match up:

UP FRONT

All eyes will be on two of the most-explosive forward units in the WHL. The Pats have two legitimate gamebreakers at their disposal in the form of Euro standouts Petr Kalus and Denis Tolpeko. The Blades counter with Devin Setoguchi, who's the most proven sniper on either side.

The teams appear to match up quite evenly at the top end of their lineups: Kalus vs. Setoguchi; Regina's Matt Robinson vs. Saskatoon's Aaron Bader; Regina's Garrett Festerling vs. Rabbit; Regina's Kyle Ross vs. Saskatoon's Joe Barnes; and, Tolpeko vs. Saskatoon's Chad Klassen.

Given the Blades' depth, Regina will also need youngsters like Ian Duval and Justin Bernhardt to counter the likes of Justin McCrae and Zdenek Bahensky.

Saskatoon's Chris Cloud and Regina's Tyson Sievert could be key players in the trenches. The Pats will sorely miss the presence of Jordan Fuder (knee injury), who's one of the league's more tenacious forecheckers.

BACK END

If the Blades do indeed hold a slight edge up front, Regina may have a negligible advantage on the blueline based upon their puck-moving ability.

Kyle Deck, Logan Pyett, Craig Schira and Nick Ross are all capable of skating with the puck and will log huge minutes in this series. This group's weakness is its age -- Deck is the only player with more than two years of WHL service. Regina is also expected to employ No. 1 bantam pick Colten Teubert, the youngest player in the CHL, who just turned 16.

A key injury to Derek Reinhart leaves veteran Josh Fauth as the team's main stay-at-home presence.

The Blades improved their experience and agility on defence this season by trading for Joe Logan, David Schulz, Derek Price, Brad Cole and Michael Hengen. That group is older and more physical than Regina's blueline brigade, but remains somewhat unproven as a collective unit.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

The matchup between Regina's David Reekie and Saskatoon's Anton Khudobin may be the most intriguing battle in the series. In his first season as a WHL starter, Reekie has proven himself to be a steady, consistent No. 1 goalie. He also enters the playoffs as perhaps the league's hottest masked man, having won six straight games down the stretch and claiming player-of-the-week honours.

Like Reekie, Khudobin has never started a playoff game in the WHL. However, the 19-year-old Russian has played in the gold-medal final of the past two world junior championships -- albeit losing both times to Canada. Khudobin, who was named the Blades' team MVP, is also something of an enigma. He can stop 50 shots on one night and self-destruct the next.

BEHIND THE BENCH

It's hard to find a weakness with Lorne Molleken and Chad Mercier manning Saskatoon's bench or with Curtis Hunt and Terry Perkins guiding the Pats.

Regina and Saskatoon are two of the more well-prepared teams in the league, which would seem to place the onus on the players to decide this series. As is the case with the rosters of both squads, the only difference in this department is experience. Hunt has never been past the second round while Molleken, a former NHL bench boss, has coached in two WHL finals. He and Mercier were also together for an appearance in the 2001 Memorial Cup -- with the Pats.

Prediction: Blades in seven.

nivek_wahs
03-24-2006, 01:04 PM
I forgot to add my comments above... So here they are...

Not even the 'Homer' reporter Greg Harder would pick the Pats to win :mad: ... O well I hope the Pats prove him wrong :groovy:.

It should be a good series no matter what happens.

GO PATS!!!!

Dwight Schrute
03-24-2006, 04:50 PM
Deck, Logan Pyett, Craig Schira and Nick Ross are all capable of skating with the puck and will log huge minutes in this series. This group's weakness is its age -- Deck is the only player with more than two years of WHL service. Regina is also expected to employ No. 1 bantam pick Colten Teubert, the youngest player in the CHL, who just turned 16.
A key injury to Derek Reinhart leaves veteran Josh Fauth as the team's main stay-at-home presence.





i believe john tavares from oshawa who has a late 1990 bday would be the youngest

T-Bone
03-25-2006, 04:36 PM
i believe john tavares from oshawa who has a late 1990 bday would be the youngest


The thing that you need to know is that reporter Greg Harder can rarely think for himself. The "youngest in the CHL" line was coined by broadcaster Rod Pedersen when Teubert joined the Pats.

If we can all recall Pedersen's recent article on the Regina-Moose Jaw rivalry for ReginaPats.com, Pedersen mentioned the 2002 playoff series against the Warriors in which (then) Warrior captain Sean O'Connor tied up the stick of (then) Pats captain Chris Schlenker at the ceremonial face-off in the (then) Regina Agridome.

For those of us who actually payed attention, Regina's captain was one Garth Murray.

Bottomline, it is fairly obvious that these guys are not being paid for their accuracy and research.