Enerflex Cup Champion will Win “Their Way”
April 2, 2009
By Fred Rinne
Sun Media
Ask coaches around the Alberta Junior Hockey League about the Enerflex Cup final between the first-place overall Spruce Grove Saints and the second-place in the North and AJHL overall Grande Prairie Storm and to a man they agree the difference IS the difference.
Whether it be by the way they play, the way they got to this point, or even the way the teams were built from the ground up, the club that skates around the rink with Enerflex Cup shining proudly will have done it “their way”.
Rather then go to the principals on this one – namely Saints coach/GM Steve Hamilton and Storm Coach and GM Mike Vandekamp – we decided to seek the opinion of some of the coaches who are now in “next-year” mode. These are teams familiar with what strengths these two AJHL juggernauts bring to the final.
And in each case, the coaches asked, pinpointed the vast contrast in clubs as the most interesting dynamic in play.
“For my money, this is shaping up to be one heckuva series because both teams play such a distinctly different style,” says Chad Mercier, coach and GM of the Bonnyville Pontiacs.
So agrees Kevin Hasselberg, Coach and GM of the Olds Grizzlys, swept by the Saints in the league semifinals.
“There’s such a significant difference in the way the teams play… the Saints are a run-and-gun, wide-open style of team that skates well, are skilled and capitalize on any little mistake you make,” he says.
“But Grande Prairie is built for a playoff run, they play a tremendous system and they don’t make many mistakes.”
Brooks Bandits coach and GM Brian Curran says consistency might be the difference.
“Spruce Grove has been the most consistent team in our league all year; Grande Prairie has been good too, but Spruce Grove has been most consistent,” he said.
“Grande Prairie has been very good on (specialty teams) and the goaltending has been very good, but it’ll be tough,” he said.
Lloydminster Bobcats coach and GM Tom Keca likes the fact that both teams are from the north and are the league’s best two teams from the regular campaign.
“I just think it’s great for our division and league to have the two best teams there,” says Keca.
“Grande Prairie is just built so well for the playoffs and they have been through such a tough run, you kinda have to wonder..,” says Keca stopping short of a prediction.
And that’s where fundamental differences really become accentuated.
The Saints were by far and away the class of the regular AJHL campaign. Hamilton’s crew logged 101 points, were rarely beaten and defeated the Storm five of six times this season, albeit most games were very close.
Wind back the tape a year; the Storm beat the Saints all six times in the regular season only to have their hockey year end at the hands of the Saints in a back-and-forth, seven-gamers which ended in the Canada Games Arena.
This year, the two teams took very different routes to get to this stage.
The Saints sat out Round 1 on a bye, the Storm played a tough, four- game series against Keca’s Bobcats in Round 1, and while Spruce Grove was knocking off the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in five games, the Storm were in the midst of another hard-fought, six-game set with the Sherwood Park Crusaders, including a game that went three overtimes.
Along come the League semis.
The Saints came off yet another long layoff to finish the Grizzlys in four straight, and waited and watched to see who they would play. The Storm and Brooks Bandits then played another wrenching series, albeit it ended in five games, but every game was a 3-2 scoreline, including another six period OT affair which the Bandits won.
So you have one team that has cruised to the finals, and is well rested, against a team that has arrived kicking and scratching, every second night.
It’s rest versus wrest.Viva la difference.
“The Saints are so skilled, and skate so well, up-tempo stuff, they are very difficult to stay with,” says Mercier, “but having said that, I think Grande Prairie has the best system discipline of any team we’ve played… toughness too… so something has to give.”
“The Saints have so much depth and play such a wide open style that any little miscue… they certainly take advantage of that,” says Hasselberg.
“But if Grande Prairie can avoid mistakes, stick to their system and play tough, it will be a very interesting series,” he said, adding the Saints ability to keep shooters to the perimeter will be key in the series.
Keca likes the depth of the Saints, especially on defence, mentioning co-AJHL-MVP Connor Hardowa, and the ability of his mates to jump into the rush.
“But Grande Prairie has a couple of guys, specifically (Bobby) Tyson and (Adam) Young who also can wheel the puck…”
“And then you have (Chad) Carder back there in goal as well.”
“If you look up and down the lineup talent-wise, you might have to give the edge to Spruce Grove,” says Curran.
“But that doesn’t matter if the talent doesn’t bring it.”
And goaltending, not surprisingly, is picked by all as a likely determining factor.
Hasselberg and Keca agree both clubs are blessed with deep goaltending. Keca mentions Carder’s puck handling ability as a possible series wildcard too.
Mercier says, in breaking down the series, it will have to come down to goaltending.
“Both teams play a different style, but both play great systems. They are both very well coached, they both execute, and it’s going to come down to taking advantage of mistakes,” he said.
And that will be the difference.
