The Dauphin Kings are moving on to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League semifinals after surviving a late surge by the Swan Valley Stampeders in the quarterfinals.
After taking a three-games-to-none lead, the Kings dropped two straight games, 6-3 in game four, Apr. 4 in Swan River, and 5-4 in double overtime, Friday in Dauphin.
But Kaden Bryant’s goal 13:15 into double overtime of game six, Sunday in Swan River, put an end to Swan Valley’s season, propelling Dauphin into a semifinal series with the Winkler Flyers.
Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley felt Swan Valley’s record was not a good indication of how good the Stampeders really are.
“I don’t think they performed up to their capabilities all season. I think they under achieved all year. They’re a good hockey club,” he said. “They’re an older team. They’ve got as many 19 and 20 year olds as anybody.”
Hedley cited Swan Valley’s two-game sweep over the league-leading Steinbach Pistons in Steinbach in mid-January as an indication of how good the Stampeders really were.
“Wolfie (Swan Valley head coach Barry Wolfe) got the best out of them and they played hard. They showed flashes of this in the regular season,” Hedley said. “We knew they were a good hockey club. The standings sure didn’t reflect how good they could be. It was a good series.”
Stampeders goaltender Kobe Grant was the difference in Swan Valley’s two wins. He made 47 saves in game four and 52 in the game five double overtime win.
“Goaltending in any playoffs in huge and the kid played very well. He kept them in a few games. He played very well. Credit to him. He was outstanding. Kept them in every game they played and it came down to two games back-to-back in double overtime,” Hedley said.
When the Kings got up 3-0 in the series, they got away from paying attention to the little details, Hedley said.
“You’re not as good away from the puck. You don’t work hard to get back on top of the pucks or right sides of battles. And I think it cost us in the end. We started going back and forth and we lost some attention to our rush defence and they scored a couple big goals off the rush, especially in game five in Dauphin,” he said, adding the defensive awareness wasn’t as good as it had been earlier in the series.
“And I thought we got back to it in Swan (in game six) and played very well away from the puck. We limited their rushing chances. And I thought that was one of Carson Cherepak’s best games he played in the series.”
Hedley feels the adversity the team faced against the Stampeders will benefit them heading into the series with Winkler.
“When you get through it, I think it does make you a bit stronger down the road. It challenges your dressing room. It challenges guys to work harder. It challenges guys to stay together and stick to what makes us successful,” he said. “So I do think it creates a bit more strength and a little more comradery in the dressing room. Hopefully it continues on against Winkler.”
The Flyers finished second in the East Division with a 33-16-3-2 record, 12 points behind the Kings. But Winkler won both games against the Kings in the regular season, 6-4 in Dauphin, Jan. 7, and 4-3 in overtime the following day. Cherepak was pulled after 40 minutes of the game in Dauphin and missed the rest of the month with an injury before returning to the lineup in early February. Led by league scoring champion Justin Svenson, the Flyers will present a tough challenge for the Kings.
“It’s going to be a good series,” Hedley said. “Obviously, Svenson and (Jaden) McCarthy and (Troy) Hamilton are all good players. Their top line can score goals. Their backend has (Trent) Sambrook, so anytime you put him into the mix, they’re tough. He’s a very good player. We’re hoping our guys can step up.”
The series is expected to begin this weekend. Tickets for game one in Dauphin are expected to go on sale Wednesday.
