Copperheads playoff push

Copperheads players salute the home fans at the Snake Pit in Coaldale.

 

The Coaldale Copperheads are heading into playoffs on a four game winning streak.

The final regular season weekend of the Heritage Junior Hockey League left the Copperheads in a home and home series with the Strathmore Wheatland Kings and the Copperheads came out with four points.

Now they turn their focus to another playoff run and the coaching staff say they aren’t worried about who they play in the first round.

“It doesn’t matter who you face in the playoffs, it’s about going in with an even keel, you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low,” said head coach Derek Wiest.

The Copperheads roster has plenty of playoff experience as they’ve made it far the last two years, including an HJHL league championship in 2015.

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They look to push that far again this year but they know they are going to run into good teams including their division rivals the Cochrane Generals and Okotoks Bisons.

Wiest doesn’t see it as an uphill battle as the playoffs are a whole different animal.

“You are going to run into them at some point but it’s a way different game out there during the playoffs,” said Wiest.

Before they run into the Generals and Bisons though, the Copperheads will be taking on the Medicine Hat Cubs in the first round.

The Copperheads have swept the season series 4-0 and the last time the two met, Coaldale won handily with a 11-2 win at home.

The players know that their style of play can’t change no matter how successful they have been against the Cubs in the regular season.

“We prepare the same way; our game plan stays the same. We’re going to play Copperhead hard nose hockey,” said team captain Ryan Swier.

The first round is only a best of three so the team knows that mistakes can cost you the entire series.

Coming into the playoffs on a hot streak was a goal of theirs after losing six in a row earlier in January.

With playoffs starting this week they hope to treat each game like any other as Swier says the playoffs can be a grind.

“We hope to take it game by game once the playoffs come. It’s too much of a grind to look ahead too much,” said Swier.

The Copperheads will play their first post season game at home this weekend.

 

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Cole Parkinson is in his final year of Digital Communications and Media at Lethbridge College. After graduation he hopes to pursue a job in sports broadcasting, hopefully covering one of the three main teams in Toronto. His hobbies include watching and playing hockey, baseball, basketball as well as playing guitar in a punk rock band. He enjoys reading, listening to music, watching movies and TV. Favourite teams: Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Raptors Favourite bands: Green Day, blink-182 and Against Me! Follow him on twitter at @ColeParkinson4

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