The Kootenay ICE had a goal at the start of the year and are half way there as the WHL Ed Chynoweth Cup Champions head to Mississauga for the Memorial Cup.
The ICE went to the 2000 Memorial Cup in 2000 and quickly returned home after losing their 3 round robin games. 5 players from the 2000 team were on the roster when the club went back to the tournament in 2002 and won the trophy. It’s no longer best-of-7 playoff series as the tournament uses the round-robin format and the ICE are focusing on how to approach the event. Forward Joe Antilla says they’re trying to keep it low key. “I think just staying calm. Just being yourselves, we got a good group with character guys and we if stick together like we have been and have fun with it then we’ll be fine.”
Assistant Coach Todd Johnson won a Memorial Cup as a player with the 1992 Kamloops Blazers as says it’s been gratifying to be a part of a coaching staff to get to the tournament. “As a player you don’t know how far you’ve come from the start of the year. As a coach you watch the development and watch the guys grow and become a team. To have a hand in that in completely different than when you were a player. As a player you just played and did the best you could.”
Johnson knows what to expect at the Memorial Cup and says there is a lot of hype. “There is a lot of media attention when you get there. There is more downtime, more than we had in any of the travel we’ve had so far. As a coaching staff we’ll keep them busy when we get there but rest is very important too so it’s a fine line.”
Forward Max Reinhart says the players are happy there are people from the club that have Memorial Cup experience. “It’s good we have Todd (Johnson) who has been there. We have a few people from the organization that have been to the last one (2002). They know what it’s about and they know the best ways to avoid boredom and all that. We’ve got guys here who know what they are doing so it’ll e all right.”
The ICE will play 3 round robin games against teams they have never seen before and Antilla says it’ll be learning experience every day. “We’ll always watch video and watch tendencies to see what kind of things they do. Until you’re in the game you don’t really understand them. After the 1st period of every game is where we’ll probably understand what we have to do.”
Reinhart says they have to be ready to play their own game. “I think it’s going to come down to who is the most focused and most hungry to win each game.”
Johnson says every game is important but you don’t have to treat them all like a game 7. “You could lose a game and still get to the final, you could lose 2 games and still end up Memorial Cup Champions. I really feel is we can play 4 or 5 games with the same mindset I think we have a very good chance. Every game is important and to get our team prepared for every game will be important”
By winning the WHL Championship the ICE now have a chance to get their main goal, the Memorial Cup.