On paper, the Prince Albert Mintos are heavy underdogs going into their first round Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) playoff matchup with the Regina Pat Canadians, but they aren’t letting that stop them.
Prince Albert finished eighth with a 22-20-2 record, good enough for 46 points. Regina finished in first place posting a 35-7-2 record and a total of 72 points.
Minto head coach Doan Smith says Regina poses a tough matchup for Prince Albert, but feels his team is ready for the task.
“Regina is a good team. They got a couple high, high-end guys that are going to be future Western leaguers, if not pro players that we got to control and be ready for. We had good success here at home against these guys winning one and losing one in overtime. Down there, we struggled a little bit, but we also learned a lot with those two games that we’ve played them down there, so it’s exciting. There’s no pressure on our end on the kids. It’s just to play the game and embrace that the pressure is on them and control what we can control.”
The Pat Canadians feature a high flying offense led by the league’s top three scorers in top WHL draft prospect Maddox Schultz (43G, 50A in 44 games), Prince Albert Raider prospect Jonah Sivertson (32G, 45A in 30 games) and Brandon Wheat Kings prospect Chase Surkan (28G, 45A in 41 games).
Regina also features the league’s top scoring rearguard in Prince George Cougars prospect Eli Johnson (10G, 46A in 43 games).
Smith says Prince Albert will have their hands full, but are ready to make life difficult for Regina.
“Those three guys, they’re great players and they’re great players for Regina and they’re great players for the province of Saskatchewan in general. It’s no easy task when you see three of those calibre players all on the same team and all on the same line to a certain extent. Our job is to make it difficult and play them hard and physically and make them earn every inch and try to keep them to the outside of the best we can. There’s no secret, we’ve talked about them. We know the kids, all the kids these days know each other whether you’re friends or ex-teammates at some point, we know them well and we’re excited for the challenge. no discredit to those three. It’s an exciting matchup to try to slow down three pretty special players.”
The playoff structure will see home ice alternate for each game of the series with Game 1 taking place in Regina on Sunday night before the series shifts back to the Art Hauser Centre on Wednesday, Mar. 5.
Smith says the Mintos are hoping to come out of the gate strong and steal home ice advantage off the hop.
“Game one Sunday night in Regina is going to be a big one. It’s a statement game, it’s the game where you can put a seed of doubt inside their players heads and make them think twice. We’ve had a good week of practice where we’re going to be ready for that Sunday game. At the end of the day, we need to do everything we can to steal the home ice advantage back to us when it flips the page to Wednesday. Play them the right way and make them earn every inch and play honestly is what our job is.”
Puck drop for Game 1 is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on Sunday night.
