The Haliburton County Huskies will square off against the St. Michael’s Buzzers when the first round of the OJHL
playoffs begin March 8 in Minden.
The third place Huskies drew the sixth place Buzzers in the opening East Conference seven-game showdown.
The blue and white have home ice advantage on the back of their 40 wins, 15 losses, and one overtime loss, good for 81 points. The St. Mike’s squad were 30-20 2-4 on the season for 66 points, coming into the post-season on an eight-game win streak.
Sitting some of their top players, the Huskies dropped weekend games, 5-4 to the Trenton Golden Hawks Feb. 28 and 5-2 to the Toronto Patriots March 1. With a full roster, they easily bested the North York Rangers 10-2 on Feb. 26.
The Huskies have won three of four games against St. Mike’s this season. They dropped the first one, 5-2, Sept. 20 but won 3-1 Oct. 26, 4-2 Nov. 9 and 4-1 Dec. 6.
Coach Ryan Ramsay said, “I think we’re pretty confident. We really like our group.
“They’re a good team. They added a couple of forwards and a defenceman at the trade deadline. Should be a really good series.”
The coach was happy with the depth displayed against first place Trenton last weekend. They sat a lot of their best
players and iced affiliate skaters. “For those guys to come in, and do pretty well right off the hop against Trenton, they did well. The same thing the next night against the Patriots. They (Toronto) needed to win,
so they dressed all their team.” While the Huskies did not get the wins, Ramsay liked the effort of the players.
The Huskies had a light practice March 3, with a focus on systems this week. The coaching staff has been watching game videos of the four games against St. Mike’s this season, and the Buzzers last six or seven games.
“Just tendencies and match-ups. We watched a lot of videos with the players and the team, individual meetings,” the coach said.
They’ve been watching the opponents’ specialty teams and goaltenders. “Maybe he’s got a weak spot, or something that we can pick up on and try to exploit.”
Ramsay said having home ice advantage is key.
“It’s hard to come in and play in Minden…it’s a loud crowd and a great atmosphere to watch a game. It’s definitely
important for our boys. We have a really good fan base. We travel well to Toronto and other places.”
Puck drop March 8 is 4 p.m. at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena.
First round playoff schedule:
Home Saturday, March 8 – 4 p.m.
Away Sunday, March 9 – 2 p.m.
Home Tuesday, March 11 – 7 p.m.
Away Thursday, March 13 – 7 p.m.
Home Saturday, March 15 – 4 p.m.
Away Sunday, March 16 – 2 p.m.
Home Tuesday, March 18 – 7 p.m
