The Spokane Chiefs come into the Western Hockey League playoffs overshadowed on several fronts.
The surprising 2015-16 regular-season champion Victoria Royals (50-16-6) are the talk of the league and overwhelming favourites against the Western Conference eighth-seed Chiefs (33-30-9) for their best-of-seven opening-round series, which begins tonight with Game 1 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The Chiefs aren鈥檛 even an afterthought tonight in Spokane. The biggest sports story in that market is Gonzaga鈥檚 NCAA basketball March Madness Sweet Sixteen showdown against Syracuse.
Yet, this might be just the way an underdog planning a sneak attack might like it.
The Royals counter this by saying they aren鈥檛 underestimating anybody.
It鈥檚 a clich茅 for the underdog to point to the favourites and claim all the pressure is on them. But the Royals are at least one 鈥渙verdog鈥� immune from that old psychological ploy. That鈥檚 because nobody expected them to be in this position. Described by many in the pre-season as youthful also-rans entering a rebuilding phase, the Royals鈥� run to the Scotty Munro Trophy as league champions was wholly unexpected. So, the Chiefs must try another trick on these Royals.
That鈥檚 because Victoria feels it can play the same card, too, as incongruous as that may seem for a league-championship team. Some around the WHL are waiting for the Victoria bubble to burst. So the Royals are still relishing the darkhorse role, even as they head into the playoffs as regular-season champions.
鈥淭here is no pressure on us,鈥� said Victoria coach Dave Lowry.
鈥淎t the start of the season, nobody thought we would be in this spot. So we鈥檙e not going to change our mindset.鈥�
Victoria defenceman Joe Hicketts, the Western Conference player of the year and the WHL MVP finalist, echoed those same sentiments.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no pressure on us,鈥� said the Detroit Red Wings prospect.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been underdogs for 72 games. We鈥檙e not going into the playoffs with any different attitude.鈥�
But there is little doubt Spokane is the true longshot here. That doesn鈥檛 mean Victoria shouldn鈥檛 be wary. Hope is a fragile thing that yet, in an instant, can become a very powerful force if you hand an underdog even a glimmer.
鈥淲e want to suffocate the life out of them,鈥� Lowry said of the team鈥檚 goal over the first two games against the Chiefs.
The Royals are all too aware this series is an uncanny echo of two years ago, when they also met the Chiefs under similar circumstances. Victoria was coming off its then-franchise record 48-win season, which was eclipsed by this year鈥檚 team, and heavily favoured against the Chiefs. But Spokane took Victoria to one shot in each of the opening two games on Blanshard Street. The Royals were saved by overtime goals by Travis Brown and Logan Nelson, both now pros in the ECHL. Those two shots could just as easily have gone the other way and Spokane could have been heading home with a shock 2-0 series lead. It鈥檚 a fine line. As it was, Victoria swept the series.
鈥淭hose first two games were really exciting. It was a hard-fought series and not a 4-0 series by any means,鈥� recalled veteran Victoria forward Logan Fisher.
鈥淢omentum is a big part of it.鈥�
Victoria got it in 2014, but with a bounce or two going the other way in OT, it could have shifted to Spokane. Momentum is a basic dynamic of the playoffs that doesn鈥檛 change from year to year. Getting off to a quick start at home is imperative for Victoria again this year.
鈥淭he Chiefs are a hard-working team that is skilled and with high energy. We are going to have to keep an eye on them,鈥� Fisher said.
The Chiefs franchise, two-time Memorial Cup champion under GM Tim Speltz, has been a study in consistency and has qualified for the playoffs 10 consecutive seasons. Speltz, GM of Spokane since 1990, was lead manager and Lowry the head coach for sa国际传媒 at the 2016 world junior championships in January in Finland.
鈥淲inning cultures, like Spokane鈥檚, create an environment that you have to live up to each year,鈥� said Lowry.
But this post-season, Spokane scraped in with the last conference berth. Victoria, meanwhile, sat atop the regular season not only in the conference but the entire league. That鈥檚 got to mean something.
But the Royals remain vigilant, as they must.
鈥淲e are not looking past this series,鈥� said Victoria defenceman Chaz Reddekopp, a draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings.
鈥淲e saw what a fine line it was in the first two games against Spokane two years ago. We could have been up or down, based on two bounces.鈥�
Such are the vagaries of playoff hockey.
