The Cold Lake Jr. B Ice rubber-stamped a spot in the second round of the NEAJBHL playoffs in style last week, sweeping the Vegreville Rangers in emphatic fashion over four games to set up a best of seven series against local rivals the Saddle Lake Warriors.
After outscoring the Rangers 28-5 over the four first-round games, Ice head coach and GM Neil Langridge said he was delighted with the performance and mind-set his team displayed throughout the opening round of the playoffs.
“Coming into this first round we identified we would be coming up against the eighth seed in Vegreville and it was sort of our goal coming in to get this series wrapped up as quickly as possible,” Langridge said. “We saw this as an opportunity to right the ship after a few (shaky) performances to close out the regular season, so we're really happy to have come through (unscathed.)”
Having finishing the regular season in first place, the Ice had home advantage to kick off the series and took full advantage of that fact, demolishing the Rangers 7-0 in the opening game Feb. 14 and 8-2 the very next night. Team captain Dallas Ansell put up six points across those two games, while rookie forwards Devon Hascarl and Zach Sylvestre emphasized their growing importance to the organization, combining for seven points.
Games three and four saw the Ice travelling to Vegreville without Ansell and the team's newly crowned NEAJBHL forward of the year Christian Nypower, but it made no difference with the team recording convincing 7-1 and 6-2 victories. Sylvestre once again impressed, putting up four points on the road, but it was rookie sensation Bryce Schultheiss, playing in only his second playoff game, and seventh game overall for the Ice who proved the match-winner in game four as he helped himself to a pair of goals and assists.
Langridge said he was “really happy” with the performances in games one and two, but admitted the team would need to improve on its showings in games three and four and stay grounded if they want to challenge for a fourth consecutive NEAJBHL Championship.
“Obviously some of the younger guys on the roster that haven't really experienced anything like this before are really enjoying is so far, but the veteran presence on the team is doing a good job of keeping everybody grounded and levelheaded,” Langridge said. “We realize there is still a lot of work to be done and we're a long way from where we want to be, so it's up to the team now to get themselves ready and prepared for what will be a tough (match-up) with the Saddle Lake Warriors.”
The Ice went undefeated against the Warriors in regular season action this year, putting up a remarkable 33 goals in those games, but Langridge was keen to re-emphasize his belief that the Ice would have to be on top form if they were to advance to the playoff finals.
“The Warriors are a dangerous team with a lot of offensive talent and some great goaltending on the backend,” Langridge said. “We've had a lot of success against them all year, winning all give of our games, but we have to be prepared for anything against these guys because on any given night they can bring their A game and cause us some problems.”
He added, “I think we all saw that in the first round when they put out the Killam Wheat Kings – an organization many thought would be a contender this year, so we just have to make sure we have our heads right and we're ready to go come game time.”
The Ice kick off its second-round series with the Warriors in Cold Lake this weekend, with games Friday and Saturday at the Energy Centre. Puck drop for both games is set for 8 p.m.
