The Mintos huddle around their netminder ahead of the opening faceoff against the Yorkton Secon Maulers on Feb. 5, 2023. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW staff)

By Logan Lehmann

playoff preview

‘We’re going in there expecting to win,’ Mintos head coach talks playoffs ahead of round one matchup

Mar 2, 2023 | 1:03 PM

The Prince Albert Mintos have had a roller coaster of a season in 2022-23 but after all the ups and downs, the Green and Gold now find themselves in the postseason and on the path to a SMAAAHL championship.

The Mintos enter the playoffs as a seven seed, and will face the second-ranked Regina Pat Canadians in the first round.

Looking back on the regular season, head coach Tim Leonard said that this season was a big step in the growth and development of his players.

“We’ve come a long ways,” he said. “It’s a big learning curve for some of these players when they come in and haven’t been used to skating every day and practicing every day and working out. We had some bumps on the way but we found our way in January. We’ve been really good since and we’re looking forward to the playoffs.”

The Pat Canadians are the best defensive team in the league this season allowing just 86 goals against, that’s 34 goals less than the next-best team. When asked about what he’s doing to prepare his team for round one, Leonard said that the focus is on themselves.

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“We’re going to focus on ourselves and get our stuff in place,” he explained. “We’ve had success here in the last month and a half so we’re going to fine-tune that. We’ve got our gameplan for them and we’re going to go down there and execute it as best we can.”

“They have a good blueline and they’re well coached,” Leonard continued. “Obviously they’re one of the best teams in the league and we have to match that. We have to defend well, we have to slow them down in the neutral zone and we’ll have to grind it out. It’s going to take a lot of hard work but the kids are focused and in the right mindset right now.”

Although finishing in seventh, the Mintos are the best team when it comes to playing on home ice as they had the best home record in the league at 19-3-0-0. With the league-best home record, Leonard thanked Prince Albert for their ongoing support and hopes to see it grow heading into the playoffs.

“We were pretty heavy loaded early in the season on the road and it kind of cost us,” he said. “But we came home and played good at home and the support has been exceptional here, especially in the last month here. It’s really good hockey to watch and we’re getting good support here in PA.”

The Mintos begin their quest for the cup tomorrow night in Regina before bringing the series back to the Art Hauser Centre on Sunday afternoon. Game one is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. at the Co-Operators Arena #6 while game two’s puck drop is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

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logan.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @lloganlehmann