it’s my Parting Shot and the second and final part of The Fearless Predictor’s second round of the W-H-L Playoffs’ picks…..
This is a lengthy look at the Eastern Conference semi-final set between the Saskatoon Blades and Red Deer Rebels after yesterday when I said Moose Jaw over Swift Current in seven games in the other Eastern semi while, out West, I’ve got Prince George eliminating Kelowna in five games and Portland ousting Everett in seven.
If I’m being honest, a big part of why I had Medicine Hat winning their opening round set over Red Deer was wishful thinking!
There are 14 players on the Rebels’ roster who want revenge for last year’s “reverse sweep” executed on them by the Bridge City Bunch. The bitter taste of that setback was augmented by the hurtful adjectives, “collapse” and/or “choke!” The only consolation for those Red Deer players and their organization was that they beat up the Blue and Gold pretty badly with their physical style of play that the Blades were easy four-game pickings for Winnipeg in the Eastern Conference final!
Now, the Rebels get a shot at real revenge. They feel good about themselves based on their last two regular-season meetings with Saskatoon, both after the trade deadline, when Red Deer won 5-4 at home and, even more impressively, 5-0 at SaskTel Centre.
But, aside from those two games, the Rebels haven’t been great since the end of January. They finished the regular-season 6-13-and-4 in their final 23 games, 2-4-and-1 since my old Blades’ room-mate Dave Struch took over as head coach on May 2nd!
We all know that the Bridge City Bunch want to skate, play fast and rely on their whole line-up to over-whelm opponents. Red Deer will rely on their physicality, team defence and the goaltending of former Saskatoon Contact Chase Wutzke.
To me, this will be a long, low-scoring series with Saskatoon using home ice in Game 7 to finally prevail!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!…..