The beasts of the east meet in Round 2, starting Friday at the Hauser

But there’s one thing we do know …

“It’s going to be awesome,” Raiders’ Captain Brayden Pachal said. “It’s a historic rivalry. The buildings are going to be full and it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”

Friday’s Game 1 at the Art Hauser Centre has been sold out since Tuesday. And as of Thursday, there’s just over 100 standing-room only tickets available for Sunday’s Game 2.

Both fan bases have been waiting a long time for a season like this from their clubs. The Raiders won 54 games and finished first overall in the regular season, the first time in 34 years since that happened. And by beating the Red Deer Rebels in a first-round sweep, that marked the first time the Raiders won a playoff series since 2005.

The Blades are also rebounding from a lengthly playoff drought. They’re making their first playoff appearance since they hosted the Memorial Cup in 2013. They swept the Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round this year, which was the Blades’ first series victory since they defeated the Raiders in six games back in the 2011 playoffs.

“[Only] one of us are going to be moving on, and it’s been a while since either team has gone deep in the playoffs,” Pachal said. “It’s going to be exciting, for sure.”

Playing in their home rinks has been a huge factor in the head-to-head series against both clubs. The Raiders won all four games against the Blades at the Art Hauser Centre this year, and are 12-3-1-0 on home ice in the past five years. But the Raiders were on a 0-14-1 streak heading into this season at the SaskTel Centre, before splitting the four games in the Blades’ building this year.

Both teams also ranked high in the league standings with their home ranking. The Raiders had the best home record (28-4-2) while the Blades were fourth (23-6-5).

Of course, the Raiders earned home-ice advantage for as long as they’re in the playoffs by earning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy, and are looking to have an edge at the Hauser and their raucous crowd in Games 1 and 2.

“They’re huge. All home games are massive,” Pachal said. “With our regular season, we earned that home ice advantage. It’s a tough rink to play in, especially when the fans are going. We’re looking forward to it.”

The Raiders have garnered a lot of attention and headlines throughout the league — especially after their downright dominant first half of the year. They entered the holiday break with a 31-2-0-1 record and were either first or second in the CHL rankings for almost the entire season.

But the Blades quietly put together the best second half in the WHL.

After returning from the holiday break, the Blades had a WHL-best .788 winning percentage (24-5-4). That edged out the Edmonton Oil Kings (.781), Vancouver Giants (.764) and the Raiders (.720).

“They had a really good season, and we did too,” Blades captain Chase Wouters said. “We’re just a couple good teams, and it should be a fun series. Everybody’s kind of humble around Saskatoon, we’re just trying to play our game and see what happens.”

Only one of the fan bases that are due for a deep dive into the playoffs will get that opportunity. Wouters acknowledged that both of the team’s supporters have been loyal, and he hopes to make the Blades’ fans happy.

“P.A. and Saskatoon are both really big hockey towns. Both have been good supporters of our teams throughout the years,” Wouters said. “It would be good to see people get happy when [their team] wins, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

–

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW

by Jeff D'Andrea

The beasts of the east meet in Round 2, starting Friday at the Hauser

What's Trending