The Grandview Steelers are feeling confident but not cocky heading into the first round of the Pacific Junior B Hockey League playoffs.
The best-of-seven series against the Richmond Sockeyes kicks off tonight (Wednesday), 7:15 p.m. at the Burnaby Winter Club (BWC).
“There are no easy match-ups in this league,” remarked Grandview head coach Stevan Matic. “You can’t look past anyone. We played Richmond close all year and feel confident that if we work hard, we can advance.”
At 27-9-2-5, the Burnaby-based Steelers are one of the favourites entering the post-season run.
In head-to-head play during the season, the Steelers posted a 3-2-1 record against the Sockeyes, with the most recent result a 6-1 hammering a month ago.
However, their other two wins were of the one-goal variety, while the two losses to Richmond were by shutout.
If anything, Grandview does have some momentum, and motivation, on their side.
The Steelers ended the regular season by taking a pair off the North Vancouver Wolf Pack, 4-2 and 6-1, the latter played Monday as a makeup game for a game called off due to last month’s snowstorm.
They also plastered Port Moody 7-1 last Friday, putting Grandview on a roll where they have won nine of their past 10.
In the final game of the regular season, Anthony Benevoli broke a 1-1 tie midway through the first, triggering a five-goal run. Affiliate call-up and Burnaby native Michael MIlosavljevic tallied twice in his second junior B game. First-year forward Leeam Tivers notched his third goal in 10 games, while veterans Keito Lee and Jeffrey Wong rounded out the offence.
The addition of Lee at the deadline has solidified the club's offence, noted Matic, and provided a boost to what had been a sagging powerplay.
"(Lee)'s a good kid who adds a lot of speed to the lineup, he moves the puck well and has been a good pairing with (Benevoli)," said the coach.
While Richmond finished 11 points back in third place, Matic said they are not to be taken lightly.
"We have to play a Steelers' 200-foot game. Richmond is well-coached and are talented, so it's important that we be disciplined," he said. "We can't be making a line to the penalty box with undisciplined penalties, so that's one key."
The team’s veterans also carry with them memories of last year’s underdog run, which saw the team march all the way to the league final before running out of gas, losing to Mission.
“I think it’s not hard to have a sour taste in your mouth after you get that far and come away short of your goal,” said Matic, who took over the head coaching duties in the off-season after serving as an assistant. “I think our team has progressed nicely over the year. We had a midseason bump but are playing well at the right time.”
The club finished tied for first place in the Tom Shaw Conference, although the Delta Icehawks were given the edge due to more wins.
That factor doesn’t dampen the strides the team has made over the last few months, Matic said.
“We both finished with 63 points and I’m not looking at it as finishing second. We had fewer losses (than Delta), so I’m not sure if one team deserves to be put ahead of the other.”
Matic said netminder Matteo Paler-Chow, who posted a 17-13-2 record, will carry the ball in the playoffs.
“(Paler-Chow) is a competitor. We have a lot of confidence in Cale Dolan and he’s done a great job. But we will start (Paler-Chow); he competes day in, day out.”
The series continues Thursday, 7 p.m. in Richmond. Game 3 goes Sunday, 4 p.m. at BWC, while the series resumes Feb. 20 in Richmond.
