Series Preview: Oil Barons (5) at Saints (1)

Goaltending:
The Spruce Grove Saints will head into the series with Travis Rolhieser entrenched as the number one guy and have Vince Marozzi as one of the best insurance policies in the league. Despite not having the best numbers in the North Division Rolheiser was named to the North Division All-Star team. MOB starter Steven Legatto is finally finding his game and his consistency in an Oil Baron uniform. Lego is proving that he truly is a big pressure playoff netminder. Last season when he was in Drumheller he almost orchestrated an upset of the Kodiaks. In the Barons three wins over Bonny Legatto allowed just 3 goals and has stopped 129 pucks in 4 playoff games. His save percentage right now is on the plus side of .940. Despite Legatto being red hot I think you have to really like what the Saints bring to the table in Rolheiser and Marozzi.

EDGE: Spruce Grove

Defenseman:
Much like the Bonnyville Pontiacs the Saints will rely quite a bit on their big boys on the back end. Connor Hardowa was named co-MVP of the league and will probably be at about 25-30 minutes a game. Chad Blanleil and Brendan Lines can chip in offensively while Connop and Tomlinson are stable in their own end. The Oil Barons will get a big boost with the return of Brad Stebner. The Barons were missing Stebner for all three wins over Bonnyville. In the absence of both Stebner and Jordan Berk the MOB have had a number of d-man step up. 20-year old Kyle Johnson took the bull by the horns in round win and finished with 5 points in 4 games logged more minutes than usual . Despite some lapses in Game 4 against Bonny Mason Conway put together a very good series scoring twice. James Isaacs and Kris Steedsman elevated their games to a new level while being forced into more ice time than they were use to against Bonnyville. With Stebner back now Isaacs and Steedsman will get a little more rest and that may help in the long run. Look for Brendan Wright to draw in as the 6th d-man while midget rookie Matt Spzak will be ready to play if anything should happen.
The Barons blueline was much improved in round one and the return of Stebner will help but it’s still tough to compete with a league MVP on the other side.

EDGE: Spruce Grove

Forwards:
After a so-so offensive season the Oil Barons finally got the offense rolling in round 1. They MOB scored 16 goals in four games thanks in large part to contributions from all three scoring lines. The line of Mirwaldt, Perry and Caron dominated the Pontiacs at time and will be looked upon to lead the club against Spruce. Dakota Dubetz snapped a scoring slump in Game 4 and he has been known to score in bunches so this could be the start of something good. The best line in the opening round for the MOB was their 3rd unit of Gracel, Hallick and Seymour….the line truly was a difference maker against the Pontiacs and could once again be an x-factor against Spruce.
On the other side of things the Pontiacs are deep, quick and fast. Everyone is healthy and that could spell trouble for the MOB. Draper, Cameron, Switzer, Becker and Lehman give the country’s number one team a number of offensive weapons.
The Barons have been scoring lately but it’s tough to go against a group of fowards that got the job done all season.

EDGE: Spruce Grove

Special Teams:
This one is easy….yes the Barons did find powerplay success in round 1 scoring in all four games while enjoying the man advantage….however the Saints had both the best power-play and penalty kill in the regular season.

EDGE: Spruce Grove

Intangibles:
Much like the series again the Pontiacs the Oil Barons appear to only hold the edge when it comes to the intangibles. The Barons knocked off the Saints in the post-season last year and with guys like Perry, Dubetz, Johnson, Stebner, Rolling, Lauder and Carr back from that team they know what it takes to beat a very good Spruce Grove team.
The Barons will attempt to pound away on the forecheck and attempt to make the Saints top offensive players to not want the puck by finishing every bodycheck they can.
As far as coaching goes….it’s tight…Steve Hamilton was the AJHL coach of the year and has picked up that award twice now. On the other side of things though….Gord Thibodeau and advisor Fran Gow have multiple league titles and over 1000 combined wins. Gord made it easy getting the match up’s he wanted against the less experience Chad Mercier but that may be a little tougher against Hamilton.

EGDE: Oil Barons

The Oil Barons will win if?

The Oil Barons can pull off a major upset if they can use the Saints two week layoff to their advantage…Spruce, whether they will admit to it or not, may be rusty after not seeing any game action so if the Barons can come out flying in game one they might be able to use the momentum they picked up against Bonny.
The MOB will also have to get outstanding goaltending from Steven Legatto….I’m talking even better than in the first round against the Yaks. Legatto will have to prove that all this “playoff goalie” talk is true.
The Barons are an intriguing situation….they are a team that has nothing to lose heading into the series as a massive underdog with a red hot goalie. That is a dangerous scenario if you are the Spruce Grove Saints.
If the MOB play the system that Gord has put in a place and absolutely are balls to the wall with their work ethic and stay disciplined they may have a shot at shocking the Saints.

The Oil Barons office will be open on Saturday from Noon until 4 PM to allow fans a time to swing by and pick up there tickets for Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Wednesday.

All games will be broadcast on Country 93.3

GAME 1 – SATURDAY, MARCH 7 @ SPRUCE GROVE 7:00PM
GAME 2 – SUNDAY, MARCH 8 @ SPRUCE GROVE 7:00PM
GAME 3 – TUESDAY, MARCH 10 @ FT.MCMURRAY 8:30PM
GAME 4 – WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 @ FT.MCMURRAY 8:30PM
GAME 5 – FRIDAY, MARCH 13 @ SPRUCE GROVE 7:00PM **
GAME 6 – SUNDAY, MARCH 15 @ FT.MCMURRAY 8:30PM **
GAME 7 – TUESDAY, MARCH 17 @ SPRUCE GROVE 7:00PM **

** – If Necessary

Former Fort McMurray Oil Baron Scottie Upshall was dealt from Philly to Phoenix prior to the NHL trade deadline on Wednesday.

Bad news is that Scottie now has to play with a bad Coyotes team….good news is that he gets to meet Gretzky. I plan on meeting Gretzky one day too….whether it’s legal or illegal I’m gonna me the guy…how can you live your entire life and not mee the only person in the world known as The Great One.

Upshall’s stay in Phoenix may be a short one as he is scheduled to be an restricted free agent this summer. However Phoenix might be a good place for Upshall to stay…..they have a nice young core in the desert and he would probably be a top six guy and get to play with Doan, Mueller, Boedker etc.

As for deadline day here are some of my thought’s:

For starters it was so boring for the first three hours of TSN’s coverage that I was tieing a noose and was planning on ending it all by the time the first deal was made.

Some of the best pick ups of the day.

Love Pahlsson to the Hawks…has a cup ring and brings the perfect amount of experience and style of play to Chicago.

Nice minor pick up by the Bruins…adding Mark Recchi will make a difference down the stretch.

Not sold on the Oilers pick ups of O’Sullivan and Kotalik….for starters yes they are both skilled forwards….but don’t the Oilers already have enough of these guys…Hemsky, Nilsson, Cogliano, Gagner….I thought if anything the Oil might try to add some experience…not trade it away….regardless O’Sullivan is full of potential and Kotalik can score in bunches.

Calgary added Jokinen…ho hum for me….the guy has never played in a playoff game….ya you can use the excuse that he has always played on bad teams….well this just in….good players make their teams and others around them better…..that hasn’t happened with Olli. He might do well in the shadow of Iggy and Cammalleri.

Leafs dumped Antropov and Moore…..I would like to point that unlike most other people I’m not a HUGE fan of Moore….the only reason he’s produced is because he was on a horrible Leafs team that didn’t have any other options…he will fade into obscurity behind Vanek, Roy, Pominville, Stafford etc.

Loved the Senators picking up Leclaire. That deal made sense for both teams…however I’m surprised the Blue Jackets also gave up a 2nd rounder…nice work by the Sens.

Habs, Canucks did nothing…..but I look at it like they got the job done early with Schneider and Sundin respectively.

I thought Pheonix did well….Upshall, Prucha, Lombardi, Prust, a 1st and ofcourse Nigel Dawes…Dawes has been a beauty ever since his days in Cranbrook B.C. with the Kootenay Ice.

Good on the Panthers to go for it and not trade Jay-Bo.

As for non player related stuff:

TSN’s trade deadline coverage began at 6 o’clock Fort Mac time…by 6:01 Pierre McGuire had used a word that I (and most likely 95 percent of Canada) had no clue what it meant.

Bob MacKenzie is legit…how much longer until he is making the trades rather than reporting them.

I always wonder about this….how did Darren Dreger go from being a host at Sportsnet to an INSIDER at TSN?? Not saying Dreger isn’t good at his job…I just want to know how he got it.

And lastly Jay Onrait is da balls of the TSN deadline day coverage. In fact next year I would like to see TSN reverse their coverage and have it based out of Onrait’s living room with a camera on him and his robe….and then just cut back to all the other guys once an hour.

Also..THIS JUST IN….for the trade deadline next year I plan to use this MOB Blog to Blog about Onrait’s Blog….I’m not joking about this…I think it would be hilarious!

Here’s to another deadline day in the books….the biggest loser…New York Rangers.

Make sure you check out CTV on Thursday night.

For local cable users that’s channel 3.

I’ve got a story on the Oil Barons that will run about 6:15 to 6:20 on Thursday night.

Here’s reaction from the MOB following a 4-2 win in Game 4 of the Barons first round series against the Pontiacs.

Gord Thibodeau talks about a big victory and the play of Steven Legatto

Michael Perry discusses a huge third period

Jordan Mirwaldt on the victory in Game 4 and the play of Lego

Dakota Dubetz broke a 13 game goal less drought with what proved to be the game and series clinching goal for the Barons….

I know the boys were waiting for the goal call I had saved for Dubetz to bust out of the slump….anyway it’s below if you want to take a listen.

Yabba Dabba Duuuuubetz!!!!

Oil Barons rookie goalie Kirby Halcrow was named to the AJHL’s North Division All-Rookie Team.

Halcrow picked up 9 wins in his rookie season backing up 20-year old Steven Legatto. Click below to listen to Kirby’s thought’s on being named to the all-rookie team.

Dustin chats with Kirby Halcrow

Here are a couple of post-game interviews from Mac Caron and Kyle Johnson.

Kyle Johnson talks about the Barons depleted blueline and how role players have stepped up

and

Mackenzie Caron talks about the big Game 3 victory and how key the great start was

Playing at Thickwood Height’s Arena in the regular season doesn’t even scratch the surface of what teams have to deal with when they visit arguably the most intimidating barn in the A.J.

Just ask the Bonnyville Pontiacs……the Pontiacs hadn’t even settled in on Monday night and it was 2-0 for the Barons. Tyler Pugh was chased just over 5 minutes in and Julien Laplante didn’t fair to well either being beaten early in his stint in the net.

The Oil Barons got scoring from the three lines they expect to contribute offensively.

Steven Legatto looked great once again…..as some of thought he might be capable of doing he has really stepped up game in the post-season and has been beaten just one in the last two games.

Ben Lauder missed the game on Monday night as he is suffering from a nasty nasty cold right now. Ben Lake filled in admirably alongside Shawn Rolling and Erik Toews.

The Barons power-play scored for a 3rd game in a row. Kyle Johnson with a howitzer was the power-play marker.

If the MOB can repeat the effort tonight they have a very good chance of knocking the Pontiacs out in four games.

Puck drop tonight is 8:30…..myself and Jordan Berk will have the call for you starting with the pre-game show at 8:15 on Country 93.3.

Will post some audio reaction from the game as soon as I can.