It’s almost playoff time for the Houston Luckies.
Team captain Alonzo Slaney said he’s looking forward to their fifth-spot start against Quesnel.
“They’re new in the league, and they haven’t been to the playoffs yet,” Slaney said. “And they like getting penalities, which is another bonus for us.”
As a Luckies veteran, Slaney can safely say the playoffs are another level of hockey.
“For sure—you’re blocking more shots, it’s more intense,” he said.
“You don’t have much to play for after that, so you lay it all on the line.”
Topping the regular season this year were the Smithers Steelheads, whose goaltender Michael Wall was nearly as unstoppable as he sounds.
But Slaney said no team gets off easily in the playoff rounds.
“They have a good team, but they’ve had luck of the bounces,” adding that in their most recent game against Terrace they scored with just 30 seconds on the clock.
With some of their younger players scoring more goals late in the regular season, Slaney said the Luckies are on the right track going in.
“Just work hard, beat them to the pucks and do what we can,” he said.