Kap has North Bay at home
Kapuskasing Flyers have seized home-ice advantage in their Great North Midget Hockey League playoff with North Bay but it would be foolish to sell the Trappers short.
Fourth-place finishers during the regular season — the Flyers finished 10 points behind the Trappers — Kapuskasing went into North Bay last weekend and earned a split from the opening two games of the best-of-five semi-final.
After dropping the series opener 2-1 on Friday, the visitors from Kapuskasing got an overtime goal on Saturday to edge North Bay 5-4.
Games 3 and 4 are slated for Kapuskasing this weekend with a 7:30 p.m. start on Friday and a 7 p.m. opening face off on Saturday.
North Bay finished in first place during the regular season with 61 points from a standout record of 30-5-1 while veteran-laden Kapuskasing had 51 points from a very-respectable record of 24-9-3.
As Kapuskasing now has home-ice advantage, it also has an age and experience edge on North Bay. An example of the vast age difference between the two teams is that Kapuskasing has no less than 11 players born in 1999 compared to just one for youth-laden North Bay.
But the ice is where the series will be settled. And the ice of Kapuskasing is what awaits North Bay.
Emotion figures to continue to play a big part in the series as it shifts to Kapuskasing, according to Flyers head coach Pat Millette.
“Momentum was back and forth the first two games and with two teams that have played a lot of close games this season, that was what we expected,” Millette told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “It’s all about who makes the fewest mistakes…that’s what will decide this series.”
Millette said he expects home ice and experience to be an advantage for the Flyers as they prepare for Games 3 and 4.
“We are hoping that our fans come out and help make a big difference for us,” Millette relayed. “We are starting to feel a buzz around town.”
And while Kapuskasing has an edge in age and experience that goes back to when the Flyers lost to the Sudbury Nickel Capital Wolves in last spring’s Great North championship series, Millette noted that “in some ways there are people who see us as the underdog. North Bay finished in first place because that is a very good team over there.”
Meanwhile, Trappers head coach Guy Blanchard noted that “there have been no surprises in the series so far.
“It has gone pretty much the way we expected it to,” Blanchard told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “They played us tough during the regular season and we expected a tough series from them coming in.”
Blanchard said he sees two evenly-matched teams in the Trappers and Flyers while acknowledging the home ice factor that Kapuskasing will enjoy for Games 3 and 4.
“You know what, they will have the advantage of the home crowd but we have won in their building before and we are a pretty-good road team,” Blanchard said evenly. “It’s a matter of us going in there and adjusting and following the game plan. It is going to come down to which team wants it most. We know they are going to play us hard.”
PHOTO: North Bay forward Mason McMahon (89) gets poke-checked by Kapuskasing goalie Nicholas Dube during Game 2 action of the Great North Midget Hockey League semi-final. (Photo by Dave Dale.)
One of the best rinks in GNML.
Go Flyers Go!! Great read Randy Russon as always!!
Kap were looking good in the 2 game’s at the Gardens.
This Series just mite come back to the Bay for a Game # 5.
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP all the way!!!!!
Go Flyers Go !!! Kap all the way!!!!!!!
Plan on being there for Sat. game.
Kap has the best crowd in this league & it dates for yrs. They can be loud , boisterous & crude and that creates a hell of an atmosphere . Nobody likes to play in their rink….
Nice to read such a good Article about the AAA Midget’s from Kap. By old bud RR take’s care of the North once again . .
Not sure if North Bay is ready for what is coming their way at the Sports Palace in Kapuskasing this weekend. Teams and players hate playing in that barn during the playoffs. Its loud and its full! I was a player on an opposing team and its intimidating. Its fun but nerv and breath taking. Good luck boys and have fun!