On paper it looks like the Brockville Braves are likely going to be in for a rough ride against the Ottawa Jr. Senators in the CCHL semifinal.
The Braves found out they’ll play the Ottawa Jr. Senators in the second round of the CCHL playoffs after the No. 2 seeded Sens took down the Pembroke Lumber Kings 4-2 in the best-of-seven series.
The Senators beat the Braves four out of five times in the season series.
Ottawa found their name on the Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings almost every week this season. Brockville was never even an honourable mention.
This year’s Fred Page Cup hosts had four players listed in the top-10 for scoring in the regular season. The Braves had two in the top-20 and one of those players, Tyson Kirkby, is questionable to suit up in the upcoming series because of an injury.
Brockville built their name this season on strong and consistent defence. Ottawa, however, allowed 20 less goals in the regular season and one less in the post-season, despite playing two more games than the Braves in the first round.
Braves coach Jesse Winchester isn’t looking into the past, though.
The last time Brockville and Ottawa met was before Christmas and this is a different team. Heck, the Braves have looked like a different team since the start of the playoffs two weeks ago.
If the first-round was any indication this Brockville squad seems to be peaking at the right time.
The Braves were prepared for a seven game series in the first round against Kanata, said Winchester, but they ended up being the only team in the CCHL to sweep their opponents – albeit in four close games.
For the last few months Brockville boasted they had a deep lineup, but in the quarter-final they proved it. They had everything from Eric Holland filling the net on the first line and Eric Faith being defensively sound on the second line to Michael Locatelli’s big hits on the third line and the aggressiveness seen by everyone on the fourth line with Joshua Spratt, Fred Allaire, and Cristophe Cote.
The Braves had three players in the top-10 playoff points list by the time Ottawa finished their series, and again, despite them playing two less games than the Senators.
“I think when we’re on our game we can take it to anybody, our team believes that. Ottawa has been ranked top-five in the country for most of the year, but we want our shot at them. We’ll be ready and hopefully make the most of it,” said Winchester. “I think we match-up pretty well. We’re built pretty similarly at this points with really solid four lines. They were in a tough series with Pembroke and we’re hoping to test them the same way.”
The Braves haven’t played since last Thursday and the break is a welcomed one for them. Game 1 in Ottawa is scheduled for this coming Thursday and the break they’re currently on is their longest time away from the ice since the 15-day holiday hiatus to start the new year. They’ve played a jam-packed 28 games in 75 days since that break.
Winchester held light practices on Sunday (they had a 3-on-3 tourney) and Monday after giving his team two days away from the rink, but planned on ramping up the workload Tuesday.
“We were grinding for the better part of two months there with a game every other day, so we had a little bit of time to rest some nagging injuries and then we’ll ramp it back up,” said Winchester. “We don’t need five practices to get ready for Ottawa. We know what they’re about and how dangerous they are.”
So, the league’s coach of the year knows how many days he doesn’t need to prepare. He also has a pretty good idea how many days it’s going to take if his team wants to get through Ottawa.
“It’s not going to be sweep in this series,” said Winchester. “It’s going to come down to how long we can stay committed to doing the right things, not feel forced to make exceptional plays, and just sticking with our plan and executing for all seven games. That’s how long it’s going to take this one.”
Original Story at Recorder.ca
