Metro v. Flint
Two Michigan teams separated by a mere 30 miles of Interstate 75 highway will meet starting tonight in a first-round, best-of-three, North American 3 Hockey League playoff series.
Flint Jr. Generals will play host to the Waterford-based Metro Jets in Game 1 of the series.
While the two teams may be close geographically, they were far apart in the regular-season standings.
Flint finished atop the standings of the East Division of the NA3HL with 86 points from a record of 42-4-2.
Metro only clinched the fourth-and-final playoff spot on the final day of the regular season and finished 40 points back of Flint with a record of 22-24-2.
As well, Flint won all eight regular-season meetings with Metro.
Metro coach Justin Quenneville is quite aware of the fabulous regular-season that Flint fashioned. But he’s proud of what his team did in making the playoffs by having to win four of its last six games of the regular season to overtake the Toledo Cherokee.
“Making playoffs is difficult at any level. But in particular at the NA3, we had success moving players up (to the North American Hockey League and United States Hockey League) this year which is great, but always difficult to replace.
“Our guys kept battling and were rewarded for their hard work. At the end of the day, we took an approach to our structure with a ‘work-ahead-of-skill’ mentality and gave ourselves a chance to win every night. And, as a coaching staff, that’s all you can ask for.
“Our approach for playoffs is simple. Continue to play the way we have been.
“We are all aware of Flint’s success this season. In order to beat a team like Flint, first and foremost we have to be disciplined. But at the end of the day, this is a new season and everyone starts at zero,” Quenneville told HockeyNewsNorth.com.
Flint coach Steve Howard said his team expects a tough battle from Quenneville and the Jets.
“Metro has been playing really well of late,” Howard told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “Justin has done a great job with them this year and the Jets have been harder and harder to play against. It’s been a while since Flint and Metro have played against each other too. I’m sure both teams will be ready and it should make for a great series.”