Raiders captain Brayden Pachal to battle against good friend and Giants captain Jared Dmytriw. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Captains' duel

Raiders and Giants captains ‘joked’ about being in the finals months ago

May 3, 2019 | 1:31 PM

During the holiday break, Prince Albert Raiders captain Brayden Pachal got in touch with one of his closest friends. At the time, it was nothing more than an innocent chat of two friends light-heartedly floating the idea they’d meet in the 2019 Rogers WHL Championship series.

But seeing as that friend was Vancouver Giants captain Jared Dmytriw, it now looks like some unforeseen foreshadowing as the Raiders and Giants are set to begin the finals on Friday and Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We talked about it a little bit over Christmas, kind of jokingly, that we might end up in the finals. But now, it’s a reality,” Pachal said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

It’s a destiny of sorts that Pachal and Dmytriw would end up in the finals. They took similar paths to the WHL. They’re both from southern Saskatchewan (Pachal from Estevan, Dmytriw from Craven). They both played their one year of Midget AAA hockey with the Moose Jaw Generals before they were both drafted by the Victoria Royals one year apart.

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Dmytriw was drafted in the fourth round in 2013 by the Victoria Royals, while Pachal went in the second round in 2014. Both played together for a year and a half with the Royals until Pachal landed in Prince Albert with a trade on Jan. 9, 2017.

“We hang out all summer. He’s one of my best friends, it will be fun for sure,” Pachal said.

There may be a strong bond forged through the game of hockey between Pachal and Dmytriw, but when the Rogers WHL Championship series starts on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre, it will be friends off.

“Whoever wins, we decided we’re not going to talk about it in the summer,” Pachal said. “When the puck’s dropped, there’s no friends on the ice.”

Perfect records in the finals

The Raiders and Giants are meeting for the first time past the regular season.

The Raiders are 1-0 in the final series. They won it all in their only other finals appearances in 1985, on their way to a Memorial Cup trophy.

The Giants won the 2006 championships, sweeping the Moose Jaw Warriors. They also got returned in 2007, falling in seven games to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Both teams met just once this season, with the Giants beating the Raiders 3-1 on Jan. 24 near the tail-end of the Raiders’ B.C. trip.

The Raiders have been thinking about this opportunity since they arrived back from Edmonton on Sunday night.

“They just want to get going, you can tell,” Raiders Head Coach Marc Habscheid said. “We gave them Monday off and talked to them on Tuesday. You could tell the energy in the room and the focus, they were ready to go.

“That’s the thing, when you get the further down the road in the playoffs, motivation is no factor at all. These guys are getting to the WHL Championship series now. They can smell it. They can see it, they can smell it, they can feel it. And they’re excited about it, so it’s time to get going.”

Games 1 and 2 will be at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday and Saturday. Both teams will travel to the Langley Events Centre over the weekend. Games 3, 4 and 5 are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday in Langley.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW