ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Nobody said things would be getting any easier, which the Newfoundland Growlers are about to find out starting tonight in southwest Florida.
The Growlers’ stay in Estero, Fla., will be anything but a vacation for a squad that’s about to meet one of the best teams in the ECHL.
“They’re a big, big, big, heavy team that plays a heavy game,” Growlers coach John Snowden said of the Florida Everblades. “They’re one of the elite teams in the league this year for a reason.”
The Growlers and Everblades meet in Game 1 of the ECHL’s Eastern Conference final 9 o’clock tonight (NL time) at the Hertz Arena in Estero, just south of Fort Myers.
At stake is a berth in the Kelly Cup final against either the Tulsa Oilers or Toledo Walleye. Those two teams meet in the Western final, which also begins tonight.
“They’re one of the elite teams in the league this year for a reason.” — John Snowden
The Growlers had a fine first season in the ECHL, racking up 94 points to win the North Division and finish second in their conference.
Problem is, the Everblades had a finer campaign, finishing first with 50 wins and 106 points. Only the Cincinnati Cyclones (with 51 Ws, and 110 points) were better this season.
But as Toledo demonstrated, knocking off Cinci in a five-game Western Conference semifinal, anything can happen in the playoffs.
“We’re going to have to skate,” said Snowden, “and be willing to engage in physical contact, work to get to the good, open ice in the offensive zone, and then when we get there, we have to be willing to deliver the puck and pay a price for second and third chances.”
Playoff hockey, in other words.
“We know they don’t give up a whole lot defensively, they don’t give up a whole lot in the ‘D’ zone.”
The Everblades this season allowed only 181 goals, fewest in the East.
However, Newfoundland’s Zach O’Brien might have something to say about that.
O’Brien has been on fire in the post season with 10 goals and 18 points in a dozen games, good for third overall in league playoff scoring.
O’Brien has scored a goal in each of his last six playoff games, and is coming off a hat trick performance in the series-clinching 5-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs Monday night.
“He’s meant a whole lot to our team all year,” Snowden said of his 26-year-old assistant captain from St. John’s, who is capping off his seventh pro season.
“And he’s elevated his game. He’s been arguably one of the best players in the league all season (O’Brien was a second-team ECHL all-star and won the league’s sportsmanship award), and he’s showing that in the playoffs.
“He obviously has an elite skillset for this level, and he’s definitely dug in and is doing what it takes to lead by example on the ice — playing hard and playing an offensive and defensive game.
“He’s leading the charge, and it’s contagious with the rest of the group.”
Snowden is sending out a youthful squad every night — 11 of the 19 Growlers’ skaters who have played in the post season are first-year pros — and says he’s impressed with the level of play they’ve maintained through two playoff rounds.
“It’s been a long season, with a lot of ups and downs with recalls to the American league and injuries, but we’ve been able to maintain the standard that we set out to start the season with.
“We’ve continued to get better as the season has gone on. I thought that in both series with Brampton and Manchester, those teams played us hard and played us physical. They were not easy series, but we prevailed.
“It was good to see our group, as young as we are, be resilient through the whole thing. I don’t expect that change.”
Of the 12 games the Growlers have played so far in the playoffs, seven have been decided by one goal. Two games were decided by two goals, and each had empty-net goals.
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