The Steinbach Pistons are facing off against the Swan Valley Stampeders in round 2 of the MJHL playoffs with game 1 set for Friday, April 7.
Season Series:
September 30 – 2-1 Pistons win
November 18 – 5-2 Pistons win
January 29 – 5-3 Pistons win
March 10 – 2-1 Stampeders shootout win
SPECIAL TEAMS (versus each other):
PISTONS: PP 4/24 – 16.7% PK 21/23 – 91.3%
STAMPEDERS: PP 2/23 – 8.7% PK 20/24 – 83.3%
The Steinbach Pistons are coming a first-round win that saw them beat the Winkler Flyers in seven games. The Swan Valley Stampeders first round win came in six games over the Dauphin Kings. The Pistons were 3-1 against the Stampeders this season, outscoring them 13-8 over that span. Swan Valley finished just behind the Pistons in the regular season with a 36-16-5-1 record and 78 points which was good enough for third place in the MJHL.
When looking back on the first round Head Coach & GM Paul Dyck commented, “teams always learn a lot once they enter the playoffs and how difficult it is to win at this time of year.” Furthering on that Dyck stated, “every mistake seems to get magnified, and we paid for some mismanagement of pucks and cheating the game at moments. We learned the importance of how much every shift matters, staying in the moment and being able to reset within a game.”
Looking at the series ahead and what the fans can expect Dyck said, “the fans watching this series should expect a game played with a lot of pace and energy to it. I anticipate a blend of skill and physicality and both teams have a solid defensive structure they will hope to execute on backed by strong goaltending. Wolfie has his team playing some great hockey and have bought into the system he has implemented.”
Looking at the Pistons focus going into round two, Dyck commented, “they are one of the top offensive teams in the league and their defence is a large contributor to that, so we have to play with great defensive awareness. We would like to build on the team effort we saw in game 7 and hope to play with that type of urgency throughout the series.”