Merch Madness surrounds the team to beat in the Capital Junior B Hockey League playoffs.
The St. Albert Merchants are huge favourites to win their first Founders Cup championship since 2005 after an impressive 34-3-1 performance in league play.
“It’s good for us to have that pressure,” defenceman Jared Kwasney told the Gazette on the eve of the quarter-final series with the Beverly Warriors. “We want to make something out of ourselves.”
The score from Friday’s series opener in St. Albert was unavailable at press time.
Game two in the best-of-five west division playoff is 8 p.m. Sunday at Londonderry Arena.
Game three is 8 p.m. Wednesday at Akinsdale Arena.
If needed, game four is Feb. 28 at Londonderry and game five is March 2 at Akinsdale. Puck drop is 8 p.m.
Visit www.stalbertmerchants.com for home game events in the playoffs.
The series winner advances to the best-of-seven semifinal against an east division team.
The two finalists for the Founders Cup will represent the CJHL at provincials, April 3 to 6 in Grande Prairie.
The Western Canadian Keystone Cup, hosted by the Abbotsford Pilots, is April 17 to 20.
Last year in the semifinals the Merchants lost game seven 3-2 to the Wetaskiwin Icemen in St. Albert to end the team’s farthest playoff run in years.
“We have used last year’s playoff to our advantage and bring it,” Kwasney said. “Any team can really win. There is going to be upsets. There is going to be bruises. We just have to play hard every game and give it 110 per cent.”
Kwasney, 20, is one of 14 returning Money Men from the team’s 8-6 playoff march.
“The guys new to the team are eager for the playoffs and the people from last year want it more than ever,” said the second-year Merchant.
The playoff rematch with Beverly should be a thriller. Last year’s quarter-final tussle had three games decided in overtime. In the series opener the Merchants rallied from a 3-0 deficit in period two to win 5-4 on Brady Reid’s OT goal at Bill Hunter Arena. In game four in St. Albert, Beverly won 3-2 in four OT periods, with the winner coming on the power play in the 116th minute of play with Kwasney in the box for cross checking. In the fifth and deciding tilt at Londonderry, Mike Roeleveld tied it with 21 seconds left in regulation time after Beverly made it 3-2 with 69 seconds remaining and in OT Blair Macuch fired the series winner.
“They’re definitely a tough component. We faced them last year in the playoffs so we’ve got a little bit of a rivalry there. They play hard,” Kwasney said. “It’s going to be a good series. They will be very exciting games. We’ll just take it one game at a time.”
In the regular season the Merchants swept fourth-place Beverly (19-19) by scores of 4-2 and 6-3 at Londonderry and 5-0 and 7-1 in St. Albert.
In the best-of-three first round the Merchants had a bye and Beverly eliminated the Morinville Jets (17-19-2) in game three Wednesday at Londonderry. Beverly lost game one 7-6 at home before rebounding with a 6-5 OT decision at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
“They will definitively come in with momentum and we have to shut it down and shut down their playoff hopes,” Kwasney said.
Friday’s playoff debut was the Merchants’ first game since edging the Icemen 3-2 in overtime Feb. 9 in Wetaskiwin for their sixth win in a row.
“Everyone is so eager to play right now and we definitely have to come out strong,” Kwasney said. “We really have to get the legs going. It’s been a week or two since we’ve had a game.”
An enthusiastic fan base will also give the Merchants a big lift in the playoffs.
“The more fans the wilder it is. It gets the players pumped up. It’s something like the 12th man in Seattle,” Kwasney said. “It’s good to even come into a home arena and your fans are roaring. Our fans travel to some of our away games so props to them. They definitely come out and support us.”
The six-foot-three Kwasney is a tower of power on the blueline. The St. Albert Catholic High School graduate ranked second among the team’s defencemen in scoring with seven goals and 22 points in 36 games.
Last season the midget AA product of the St. Albert Blues compiled five goals and 15 points in 31 games.
His penalty totals both seasons were 74.
“I picked it up after Christmas. I’ve definitely improved from last year, so it’s been a fairly good season,” said Kwasney, who fills potholes with O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. in his spare time.
He is among several defensive stalwarts in front of netminders Justin Pawlenchuk (24-1, 2.40 GAA) and Max Cathcart (10-3, 2.13 GAA). They combined for a league-high five shutouts while letting in only 88 goals.
“Everybody on the D core has been good. We have one of the strongest D cores we’ve seen in a while,” said Kwasney, who has been paired with the reliable Jed Groenenboom since the season started. “We have good chemistry going.”
