Since returning from the Holiday break at the start of January, the U22 Wildcats have been hard at work competing in 22 regular season games to complete the season. In that stretch, the team posted a respectable 9-13 record, earning 24 points to secure a coveted playoff spot in the second (Silver) division of this year’s U22 Elite Playoff Weekend.
Reflecting on the team’s success in the second half Coach Janus commented, “We played some good hockey in the second half. Many of our players were able to play with more confidence and intensity, finding consistency in a 60-minute game. We had two road trips in February where we played some good teams and came home with points in each of those weekends. Our team learned how to better prepare mentally for games in the second half, playing well against strong teams like Etobicoke and taking points from teams like Barrie and Nepean and getting a few comeback wins against local rivals. Confidence is key with our group and we’re looking to bring a lot of swagger into Playoff Weekend.”
Playoff Weekend will be held April 5-7 at Scotiabank Pond at Downsview Park and will see teams in three divisions of eight teams – Gold, Silver and Bronze, each with four team pools – competing to advance to the finals of their division. The Wildcats have drawn a competitive pool in the Silver division, which will see them matching up against Cambridge, Kingston and Nepean in round robin play. The Wildcats won both games against Nepean in their in-season series in hard fought games but lost both series’ to Cambridge and Kingston.
“These are good teams and teams we match up well against” said Coach Janus, going on to describe the opportunity the team has in these 3 games. “We don’t believe we played our best hockey against Kingston or Cambridge this season. Both are good teams that bring speed and transition well in all zones. We’ll need to be sharp and look to make plays quickly, which requires a lot of communication. We will also need to play a physical game, making pins in our defensive zone and forechecking hard in the offensive zone to turn pucks over. Our challenge will be to stay out of the box, limiting the penalty minutes and maximizing our time in 5v5 play. One area our team has been working on in the second half of the season is making teams pay a price for their mistakes by capitalizing on our offensive chances.”
The top two teams in each pool move on to the semi-finals of their division on Sunday. “We’re anticipating 3 excellent performances next weekend’s round robin to give ourselves an opportunity to move on to the elimination games on Sunday. Control what we can, and focus on the positives. That will help us execute for all 60-minutes. Win, lose or draw, I know the girls will compete hard and give it their all, as they have all year” Says Coach Janus.
The U22 Wildcats’ playoff schedule is below, all games are at Scotiabank Pond at Downsview Park. Come cheer on the Wildcats next weekend. Wear your jerseys and bring the noise!
Friday April 5 – 4:30pm vs Kingston
Saturday April 6 – 10:30am vs Cambridge
Saturday April 6 – 6:00pm vs Nepean
