MJHL Quarter-Final Preview- #7 Swan Valley Stampeders vs. #2 Steinbach Pistons

  

Swan Valley Stampeders (22-20-9= 53 points) vs. Steinbach Pistons (45-10-5=95 points)

Regular Season Head to Head 

Oct 3rd: Steinbach over Swan Valley 4-3 (OT)

Oct 9th: Steinbach over Swan Valley 7-2

Nov. 15th: Steinbach over Swan Valley 4-3

Dec. 6th: Steinbach over Swan Valley 2-1 (SO)

Feb 6th: Steinbach over Swan Valley 3-1

Feb.28th: Steinbach over Swan Valley 5-1


Steinbach: 6-0-0
Swan Valley: 0-4-2


Top Scorers/Goaltending: 

Swan Valley (Regular Season): 

#16 Josh Tripp- 23G 24A = 47 points 

#9 Cody Ellingson- 14G 29A = 43 points 
#24 Colton Brausen- 17G 24A = 41 points 
#17 Riley McKay- 12G 22A = 34 points 
#2 Gavin Froese- 12G 21A = 33 points 

#29 Zach Degraves - 16-25 record. 3 shutouts. 2.88GAA. 0.916SV% 
#33 Brett Evans- 6-13 record. 4.14GAA. 0.886SV%

Swan Valley (Postseason): 

#6 Carter McMurdo- 1G 2A= 3 points
#16 Josh Tripp- 1G 2A= 3 points
#20 Jordie Valention- 0G 3A= 3 points
#11 Trevor Mann- 2G 0A= 2 points
#9 Cody Ellingson- 0G 2A= 2 points


#29 Zach deGraves- 2-0 record. 1SO. 1.50GAA. 0.950SV%

Steinbach: 

#10 Daniel Taillefer - 22G 59A = 81pts
#6 Cole Smith - 26G 35A = 61pts
#12 Tyler Penner - 23G 35A = 58pts
#15 Hayden Goderis - 22G 33A= 55 points
#22 Bradley Schoonbaert- 25G 27A= 52 points


#1 Roman Bengert- 25-8 record.  3 SO. 2.07GAA.  0.926SV%
#35 Jeremy Wik -  20-7 record.  1 SO. 2.27GAA.   0.913SV%



Special Teams

Penalty Kill (Regular season): 

STE: 6th- (81.2%)
SV: 7th- (76.3%)

Power Play (Regular season):

STE: 1st- (74/269)= 27.5%
SV: 6th- (46/260)= 17.7%

Penalty Kill (Postseason): 

SV: 4/5= 80%

Powerplay (Postseason):

SV: 2/9- 22.2%


Series Schedule: 

  Fri. Mar 11th (Game 1) -  Swan Valley Stampeders @ Steinbach Pistons 8PM 

 Sat. Mar 12th (Game 2) - Swan Valley Stampeders @ Steinbach Pistons 8PM 
(Pregame 7:50, pxp at 8:00) **

Wed. Mar. 16th (Game 3) - Steinbach Pistons @ Swan Valley Stampeders 7:30MB time

Thurs. Mar 17th (Game 4) - Steinbach Pistons @ Swan Valley Stampeders 7:30 MB time (Pregame 7:20, pxp at 7:30) **

*Sat. Mar 19th (Game 5) - Swan Valley Stampeders @ Steinbach Pistons 7:30 MB time  

 *Tues. Mar 22nd (Game 6) - Steinbach Pistons @ Swan Valley Stampeders 7:30 MB time

Wed. Mar 23rd (Game 7) - Swan Valley Stampeders @ Steinbach Pistons 7:30 MB time


*If Necessary

** Broadcasted live with Yorkton Dodge Junior Playoff Hockey on GX94 or also you can listen live online at gx94radio.com  (More broadcasts might be added at a later time)

Analysis: 

This will be the first ever meeting between these two squads in the postseason and the match-up between these two teams has been controlled by the Pistons. 

The Pistons have took the past 16 meetings between these two teams over the last 3 seasons, so the Stamps will look to change that fortune around in a hurry. 

The Stamps will go the way that 20 year old Zach deGraves goes as the Edmonton product has been solid all season, especially against the Pistons and he also coming off a 25 save shutout in the Survivor Series clinching win over Wayway. 

For the Pistons between the pipes, both Jeremy Wik and Roman Bengert basically split the duties this season with Bengert ending up as a finalist for MJHL Goalie of the Year. 

On the backend, the Stamps would need to continue to get offence from their backside as seen in the Survivor Series, Jordie Valentino and Carter McMurdo each had 3 points and that turned into success for the Stamps overall. A big test for this Stamps defence will also be to try and contain this high powered Pistons offence. 

The Pistons won't flare you with their offence from the blueline but can chip in when they have to and they are on very solid defensively and it will produce a challenge for the Stamps offensive unit. 

Up the front, the Pistons have the advantage with their experience and their ability going in, as Steinbach have 5 players include the Hockey ability award winner in Daniel Taillefer that had more points than the Stamps leading scorer Josh Tripp in the regular season. The Stamps will need to score by committee and if they can get their offence going and get some solid goaltending, Swan Valley could very well compete in this series and surprise some people.