The Davidson Cyclones senior men’s hockey team is heading into the last week of their regular season schedule on a tear, but a slow start to the year may cost them a first round bye in league playoffs.
The club has won seven of their past nine, including a 15-5 devastation of the Nokomis Chiefs in Nokomis Jan. 12 after idling the Drake Canucks with a 5-4 shootout win a day earlier at the Davidson Rink, putting them within striking distance of a second place finish in the Long Lake Hockey League (LLHL) standings and a first round bye.
The problem the Cyclones face is they’ll need to string a few wins together this week against the LeRoy Braves on Tuesday and the Chiefs on Friday at home along with the Watrous Winterhawks in Watrous a day later, and on the final night of the season no less, to make up for the poor start they had to the 2012-2013 season in order to get that bye.
Their 3-5 start to the year has them sitting solidly in third place in the six-team LLHL, which would give them a home-ice advantage in the first round of the league playoffs, but would create for a much more condensed schedule considering their first round provincial “C” match-up against the Loreburn 19ers will be taking place at the same time as the first round of those league playoffs.
“It would be nice if we could get up to second, but we’ve got some injuries right now,” said Jason Shaw, head coach of the Cyclones. “Pat Cey (a leading forward with the Cyclones) is hurt and Zach Sim (their top defenceman) is hurt. Hopefully we could get up to second, but it’s not the end of the world either.”
Cey suffered a wrist injury against the Winterhawks during a Jan. 5 game and it is “not sure” if he can get back into action this week, while Sim should make the final three games after mucking up his ankle in that same game against the ‘Hawks.
“We need them back to make a good run in league and provincials,” said Shaw.
Whom the Cyclones will face in the league playoffs starting in early February won’t be decided until league play action ends this weekend, but their provincial rivals, at least in the first round, will be Loreburn. The 19ers have been blown away by the competition in the Saskatchewan Valley Hockey League (SVHL) this year, currently sitting with a 1-13 record.
“They have a lot of younger guys on their team,” said Cyclones captain Derek Allan. “I think we’ll be alright because we’re an older team, but it’s provincials and you never know.”
Shaw said Loreburn could pose a problem as they have young guys making a transition into the league, so they don’t know what they’re capable of. He said the last time the Cyclones played the 19ers was in the 2009-2010 provincial “D” finals, when Davidson won their first of the past three provincial championships, but this year things are a little different.
“Now the younger guys have come on (for the 19ers) and they’re trying their best,” said Shaw. “It’s tough to compete with some of those teams with just a bunch of local guys.”
The provincials start Feb. 6 in Davidson with game 2 going Feb. 9 in Loreburn.