Cougars the underdogs
Feb. 24, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
There's good news and bad news for the University of Regina Cougars women's hockey team.
The positive is that the Cougars are in the Canada West playoffs. The negative is that they're playing the host Alberta Pandas in a best-of-three semifinal this weekend.
Talk about the bad news bears.
"It's not the best," Regina forward Kelcie McCutcheon said with a chuckle Tuesday. "But we're going into it with a positive outlook. It's good that we made the playoffs. All we've got to do is prove ourselves in the next couple of games."
"It's a challenge (facing the Pandas), but of any of the teams we could play against, I would prefer to play them at this point," added Cougars head coach Sarah Howald. "We haven't played them since October -- and I'm definitely sick of the U of S and U of M. It's a nice change."
Few would use the word "nice" to describe playing a team that went 23-1 in the regular season. The Pandas finished first in Canada West after outscoring their opponents 94-21 and are ranked third in the CIS (behind the 20-0-0 McGill Martlets and 26-0-1 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks).
Alberta also took all four regular-season meetings from the Cougars, winning 4-0 on Oct. 9, 3-2 on Oct. 10, 7-0 on Oct. 30 and 7-0 on Oct. 31.
The Cougars don't plan to back down, though.
"We're happy to be in the playoffs, but we also know that anything can happen in the playoffs," Howald said. "In (the Pandas') last playoff series at home (last season versus the Manitoba Bisons), they lost, so we're going to feed off that energy."
"There's maybe a little (intimidation) just because of their players and their stats and stuff, but we think we can keep up with them," McCutcheon noted. "We just have to know that."
Games in the series are set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if necessary) in Edmonton.
The Cougars enter the series on a two-game losing streak and having gone 2-6-2 in their final 10 regular-season games. But in Howald's words, Regina is "in a good place" heading into the playoffs.
"We put pucks in the net the last couple of weekends," said the head coach, whose squad scored 13 goals in four games against the Lethbridge Pronghorns and Saskatchewan Huskies after sniping just 30 times in the 20 previous games.
"We played well the last couple of weekends and had lots of opportunities to work on our special teams. In some ways, we match up better with Alberta than we do with (Manitoba and Saskatchewan). We can play a somewhat physical game against them."
The Cougars plan to use their speed to establish a forecheck while also looking to eliminate the mistakes which cost them in the regular-season meetings with Alberta. They also are eager to embrace their role as underdogs.
"We've got nothing to lose," Howald said. "The pressure's on them. They're in their rink, they lost the last playoff series they played there and everyone expects them to win. I don't mind the underdog status at all.
"Mentally, it's the easiest position to be in in sports. The only expectations are the ones we put on ourselves. We'll go out, work hard and play our game. We don't have to worry about what's supposed to happen."
The Huskies and Bisons are to meet in the other best-of-three semifinal in Winnipeg. The semifinal victors will tangle in the conference final, with the winner of that best-of-three series earning a berth in the CIS championship tournament in Antigonish, N.S.