Natives prepared for Pistons
- Details
- Published on Thursday, March 9, 2017
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
For the Neepawa Natives, simply reaching the MJHL playoffs is not enough; they want to make a statement. But for the club to do that, they’ll have to overcome a tremendous challenge in the league’s top team, the Steinbach Pistons.
Neepawa’s 6-3 victory over the Swan Valley Stampeders on Sunday, Mar. 5, earned the team their first post-season appearance since the 2009-2010 season. The playoff will open on Friday, Mar. 10 in Steinbach. Game two will be back at the Yellowhead Centre on Sunday, Mar. 12. (Pre-game rally at 4:00 p.m. - Opening face-off at 6:30 p.m.)
Steinbach finished first overall in the MJHL standings with a record of 49-10-1. The Natives, meanwhile, head into the post season on a hot streak going 9-2-1 in their final 12 games and qualifying with a 21-33-6 record. In head-to head play, the Pistons won five of six meetings between the two clubs.
In preparation for the best-of-seven series, the Natives coaching staff have been working with the players all week to ensure they’re prepared to face the Pistons. Head coach Dustin Howden said Steinbach is a well rounded team, that can be a threat from the top line down. He said they players will have to play them smart.
“Facing Steinbach is obviously a tough challenge. The regular season they put together was just phenomenal. When you come up against a club like that, you have to be prepared,” noted Howden. “What we’ve been doing this week to get ready for them is work on the penalty kill. Steinbach is very good at taking advantage of their power-play chances. We need to play disciplined. Don’t take bad penalties, and if we do, limit the chances. There are a few things we’ve worked on to do that.”
Another major factor in Steinbach’s success has been the duo of Mackenzie Graham and Bradley Schoonbaert. The pair finished third and fourth in league scoring this season and have lead the way for the Pistons throughout the year. Howden stressed that for Neepawa to succeed, they’ll have to limit the amount of time and space those forwards have on the ice.
On the other side of the ice is goaltender Roman Bengert, who was a consistent force between the pipes and a huge factor in the success of the Pistons this season. He led the league with 38 wins and a .926 save percentage. Howden said that the team will need to get traffic in front of Bengert and put a lot of pucks on the net. He said they’ll need to register 30 plus shots on the 20-year-old per game to have a chance.
As Howden returned to his preparations for this playoff series, he closed the conversation with the Banner stressing that the Neepawa Natives club that faced Steinbach earlier this year, is not the same one the Pistons will face this weekend. He said his team is now smarter, faster, and most importantly, more confident than they were previously and hopes that will make them a dangerous team to face.
Playoff rally set for Sunday (Submitted)
The Neepawa Natives Booster Club is planning to hold a big pep rally at the Yellowhead Centre on Sunday, Mar. 12 to kick off the team’s first playoff run in seven years. Head coach Dustin Howden said at the start of the year he promised the team would be in the playoffs and the players responded to his guidance in spades winning nine of their last 12 games, many of them in convincing fashion. During that run, Neepawa beat the fourth ranked team in Canada, the league leading Steinbach Pistons late in March and clinched their playoff spot against eighth place rivals, the Swan Valley Stampeders on Mar. 5 by a 6-3 score.
The Sunday pep rally is open to everyone and will feature music, food and lot of fun. Food and refreshments will be modestly priced. HyLife Foods famous pork burgers will be served. Other sponsors include Neepawa ShopEasy, Neepawa Gladstone Co-op, The Farmery Brewery and Tim Hortons. Other suppliers are generously coming on board. Doors open at 4 p.m. Food will be served at 4:30. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
At the regular season closing game there were almost 1,000 people in attendance, the 50/50 draw pot was over $1,300 and the mood was magical. The Booster Club hopes everyone will come out to cheer our team. The players and staff have worked hard for years to reach this point and could use a lot of fan support to kick of the playoffs.
