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Mintos ready for Regionals; host Argos, Wild and Kings

Apr 2, 2014 | 6:37 AM

The Prince Albert Mintos have been waiting for the Telus Cup Western Regionals to start since March 15.

They were eliminated then by the Battlefords Stars, swept in the second round of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League in three-straight games. The sweep followed a miraculous comeback the Mintos had over the Tisdale Trojans in the first round, erasing a 2-0 series defeat to win the best-of-five series 3-2.

Even though they were eliminated in the second round this year, the Mintos will have an important advantage: the tournament is at home. They posted a 14-4-3-1 record at the Art Hauser Centre this year and are hoping they can keep that advantage for this tournament.

“It should be a good atmosphere here. PA is a hockey town,” said Mintos assistant captain Loch Morrison, who is from Prince Albert. “It should be good for all the guys that are moving on and guys that are playing in the league next year to get noticed from scouts. It’s going to be good overall.”

The Mintos’ discipline became a factor as the playoffs went on. They gave up 22 penalties to the Stars in their three game series, including giving up 12 penalties in the 3-2 overtime loss in Game 2 Mar. 13. That includes a full, two-minute 5-on-3 power play for the Stars in the second overtime, where Spencer Bast scored to end the game.

Although Mintos head coach Ken Morrison would plead to his team to stay out of the box repeatedly, the Mintos’ discipline would snowball as the game went along.

“We would (be disciplined) until the first penalty would get called against us and then we’d just get more penalties called over and over again—near the end of the game and the second and third periods when it really mattered,” said Mintos captain Teal Sobkowicz. “That didn’t help us at all.

“You have to keep encouraging guys to keep moving and keep pushing to score a goal and get the boys moving again so we can tie it up or win.”

The Mintos have little information on their opponents for the week, but are hoping to put their best feet forward and see what happens.

“We just have to come out hard and play because we don’t know what we’re going to get (from the opposition),” said Morrison. “They’re obviously good teams, they’ve won their leagues. We just have to be prepared to play our best.”

Mintos vs. Thunder Bay Kings, Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre

The Kings finished third in the Northern Lakes Hockey League, in the same league as the renowned program Shattuck St. Mary’s from Faribault, Minn.

Ryan Burton finished fifth in the league with 25 points in 18 games. Laine McKay had 23 points in 18 games, seventh in the league. Bradley Hampton had a .901 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average.

The Kings beat the Kenora Thistles in a best-of-three series to win and qualify for the Western Regionals.

Mintos vs. Winnipeg Wild, Friday at 8 p.m. at the AHC

The Winnipeg Wild finished second overall in the Manitoba Midget AAA with a 37-5-0-2 record, and went 9-2 in the playoffs to win the championship. They beat the Eastman Selects in four games, outscoring them 16-9 in the series.

The Wild have a lot of firepower up front. Zach Court and Reid Stefanson were tied for third in Manitoba AAA scoring with 63 points, Gianluca Esteves had 52 points for 13th in the league, with the hulking six-foot, seven-inch Ezra Hall finishing in 14th in 50 points.

Their goaltending is just as good. Evan Johnson led the league with a .954 save percentage and 1.32 goals against average. His backup, Tyler Brown, was third in the league with a .938 save percentage and 1.49 goals against average.

Mintos vs. Notre Dame Argos, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the AHC

The Mintos will certainly know the Argos the most of the three. The Argos had a 3-1 record against the Mintos in four games this year. The Argos finished first overall with a 33-8-2 record, and were 9-2-0-1 in the post season to win the championship. They beat the Battlefords Stars in four games.

The Argos were the most balanced scoring teams, with eight players scoring at a point-per-game or more, with another two at 0.9 per game. They were the only team in the SMAAAHL to average more than five goals (5.36) per game. Dillon Dube was their leading scorer with 63 points.

Housekeeping

There will be a banquet Saturday at 7 p.m. The championship game will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday between the top-two ranked teams.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea