The Davidson Cyclones senior men’s hockey team are 2-0 in playoff action, beating the Nokomis Chiefs 8-2 last Tuesday in their first Long Lake Hockey League (LLHL) playoff game and the Loreburn 19ers 10-0 a day later in their first provincial “D” playoff match.

“It is what it is,” said Jason Shaw, head coach of the Cyclones. “We won’t play the same style as we do against Nokomis and Loreburn as we do against LeRoy (the Cyclones next opponent if they beat the Chiefs) and probably Kyle (their likely competition in the next round of provincials). We just have to get through these games and hopefully we can get everybody back and healthy and make a good run.”

The Cyclones game against the Chiefs started slow and somehow seemed to get slower, but that’s expected when only the Chiefs can only dress 10 guys for the game and the Cyclones just 11. In a first period that saw the clubs exchange one goal apiece, everybody seemed tired–the players, the fans and the officials.

Davidson broke out for five more goals in the second to Nokomis’s one, bringing the score to an out-of-reach 6-2, but that had more to do with the sloppy play of the Chiefs than with any expertise on the Cyclones part. Missed pass after missed pass was the order of the night.

“Pretty much it’s been the same all year (for us),” said Chiefs head coach Adam Hendry. “We were short benched and didn’t really have a good start and their top line took control of the game. We probably just got tired of chasing them around all night.”

Full lineups were at hand for the Cyclones-19ers game and the game did have a faster pace than the night before, but the end result was pretty much the same.

To read more please see the Feb. 11 print edition of The Davidson Leader.