Brahmas, Jacks series preview

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas — After losing the first two games of the Southern Conference Semi-Final series to the Laredo Bucks at home, things were looking bleak for the Odessa Jackalopes. Laredo had swept Odessa the year before and had, in fact, advanced to the Southern Conference Finals every year since they entered the league in 2002. History and momentum were on the Bucks’ side. Little did anyone know what was about to come.

 
Down by a score of 3-1 in game three, the Jackalopes came back to win it 4-3 in overtime at the Laredo Entertainment Center. Then, they won game four by a score of 4-3 in double-overtime to tie the series up at 2-2. Back on home ice in Odessa, the Jacks won game five in regulation and then against the odds, took game six in overtime, their fourth win in a row, to earn a trip to the Southern Conference Finals for the first time since 2006.
 
The Jackalopes will now face the #1 seeded Texas Brahmas, who advanced to their second conference championship in a row after outscoring the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 18-9 in a four-game sweep. The winner of the best of seven series will represent the conference in the 2009 Ray Miron President’s Cup finals.
 
During the regular season, the Brahmas and the Jackalopes met six times. Texas won four games and each team earned a victory by shootout. Odessa won the final match, which was also the only game played on their home ice.
 
With just two days in between their victory on the road against Laredo and their next series, the Jackalopes are on the road again to face the well-rested Brahmas in their small, but formidable arena.
 
The NYTEX Sports Centre holds a capacity crowd of just 2,400, and is a loud and rowdy venue, with the fans seemingly right on top of you. Those fans, including the venerable 303 Rowdies who sit just behind the opposing bench, are known for their boisterous, shall we say, support of the Brahmas. Texas had a league and franchise-best 26-5-1 record at NYTEX in the regular season and are 2-0 on home ice in the playoffs.
 
The Jackalopes
The Jacks were 20-9-3 at home in the regular season and 19-10-3 on the road. In the playoffs, they are 1-2 at home and 3-0 away.  
 
Their top three scorers in the semi-final series were Dominic Leveille (F) with eight points (4 G, 4 A) and ten penalty minutes, Sebastien Thinel (F) with seven points (1 G, 6 A) and seven penalty minutes and Russ Moyer (D) with five points (2 G, 3 A) and 24 penalty minutes. Thinel and Moyer have each scored a game-winning goal in the playoffs thus far.
 
On special teams, the Jackalopes are ninth in the league with a 10.81% power play (4 PPGF/37 ADV) and fifth with an 86.21% penalty kill (4 PPGA/29 TSH). They have allowed three short-handed goals against them in the playoffs.
 
The Brahmas
The Brahmas were 26-5-1 in the regular season and 16-11-5 on the road. In the playoffs, they are 2-0 at home and 2-0 away.  
 
Their top three scorers in the semi-final series were Tyler Skworchinski (F) with seven points (6 G, 1 A) and two penalty minutes, Jason Deitsch (F) with six points (2 G, 4 A) and eight penalty minutes and Brandon Benedict (F) with six points (2 G, 4 A) and zero penalty minutes. Skworchinski scored the game-winning goal in all four of the Brahmas’ playoff victories.
 
On special teams, the Brahmas are seventh in the league with a 14.29% power play (4 PPGF/28 ADV) and eighth with a 82.14% penalty kill (5 PPGA/28 TSH). The Brahmas have scored one short-handed goal in the playoffs.
 
Goaltending
The Brahmas may have the advantage at goaltender with the age and experience of Brett Jaeger. Jaeger, 26, is 4-0 in the playoffs and third in the league with a 2.31 GAA and seventh with a .908 save percentage. He went 28-9-2 in the regular season and had a 2.36 GAA (third in league) and a .924 save percentage (second in league). He was 4-0 against the Jackalopes during the regular season. Backup David Cacciola had four saves on four shots in relief of Jaeger in the semi-final series against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. He went 0-2 against the Jackalopes in the regular season.
 
The Jackalopes’ Juha Toivonen, 21, is also 4-0 in the playoffs and is first in the league with a 2.10 GAA and fifth with a .911 save percentage. He went 13-8-1 in the regular season and had a 3.19 GAA (15^th in the league) and a .890 save percentage (22^nd in the league). He went 2-1-1 against the Brahmas during the regular season. Backup Alexandre Vincent is 0-2 in the playoffs, having dropped the first two games against Laredo. He went 0-1 against the Brahmas in the regular season.
 
Outlook
The Brahmas will host games one and two on Friday, April 10th and Saturday, April 11^th at the NYTEX Sports Centre. Games three and four will be at the Ector County Coliseum in Odessa on Tuesday, April 14th and Thursday, April 16th. Game five (if necessary) will be at NYTEX on Saturday, April 18th. Game six (if necessary) will be in Odessa on Thursday, April 23rd. Game seven (if necessary will be at NYTEX on Saturday, April 25th. All games will begin at 7:05pm CST.
 
If the Brahmas are able to capitalize on their home-ice advantage and take the first two games on home ice, they’ll obviously have an advantage heading down for games three and four in Odessa. But the Jackalopes just proved that being down two games on the road means nothing. Although they may be a bit weary from the last series, they are primed, ready and motivated to take on the Brahmas.
 
Brahmas head coach Dan Wildfong isn’t expecting an easy series and has used the extra time available to him to prep his team for all possibilities.  
 
“We obviously have to worry about ourselves,” Wildfong said. “We’re really going to focus on our D zone a little bit more. We’re going to also focus on our power play. We’re just going to focus on little areas…the last five minutes of a game, if we’re up a goal or down a goal, what our strategy is. We realize that we have to have good special teams…so we’re going to have to be ready to go.”
 
These two teams are well matched, but the Brahmas have the advantage with their depth at forward. But the difference will come down to which team can effectively guard their net, special teams and who can maintain discipline through what will undoubtedly be a very physical series. Prediction: The Brahmas win it, four games to two.
 
Contact the author at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com