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Hawks enter Game 7 with ‘no pressure, just confidence’

Apr 24, 2018 | 8:00 AM

It’s all come down to one game.

The 2018 Canalta Cup will be decided at Tuesday night’s Game 7 between the Nipawin Hawks and Estevan Bruins in Nipawin at 7:30 p.m. The winners become the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions and move on to the ANAVET Cup; the loser is a historical footnote. That sounds like a pressure-cooking situation to be in, but Hawks general manager and head coach Doug Johnson doesn’t see it that way.

“You got to play with confidence. There’s no pressure, it’s just confidence,” Johnson said. “It’s going to come down to the team that wants it more.”

The Hawks had a chance to close out the series on Sunday in Game 6, but the Bruins extended the series with a big 4-0 win. As much as the Bruins are feeling good about themselves heading into Tuesday, the Hawks know they can respond after a loss as they’ve already done it twice in the series.

“We’ve done it all year,” Johnson said. We’ve lost Game 4 and came back and won in Game 5. We lost Game 1 and came back and won Game 2. We just stay focused and understand that we have a really strong team and be better than we were a night before.”

Johnson said speed will be one of the key factors in Game 7.

“They’re a very fast, very skilled team,” he said. “They have phenomenal goaltending. We obviously have to try and slow them down and figure out a way to beat [Bruins goaltender] Bo Didur.”

One of the players the Hawks have counted on all year has been defenceman Josh McDougall. The Prince Albert product may play on the blueline, but he’s been a part of a ton of the Hawks’ offence. McDougall, who committed to Mercyhurst University, led the Hawks in scoring with 74 points (17 goals, 57 assists in 55 games), 14 more than any other Hawk in the regular season. He’s second on the team with 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 15 playoff games.

“He spearheads our transition game, our power play,” Johnson said. “He brings a ton of offence from the blueline and can play a lot of minutes. He’s one of those guys that really needs to take charge and make sure he’s the best player on the ice.”

The Hawks have one other Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League championship under their belts, having won the league title in 1990, beating the Yorkton Terriers. The Bruins have two league titles in their history, 1999 and 1985.

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW