Powassan Voodoos and Hearst Lumberjacks meet in the first round yet again with game one in Hearst on Thursday PHOTO BY FILE FOOTBALL /jpg, TD, apsmc
Familiar foes meet in round one of the NOJHL playoffs as Hearst and Powassan prepare to do battle for the third straight year
Greg Estabrooks – North Bay Nugget
Last year the Powassan Voodoos pulled off a first round upset as they took out favoured Hearst in 6 games.
The duo will do the hockey dance again as they meet in the first round for the third straight season and Hearst has home ice advantage for the third straight year.
Last season the Lumberjacks had a 13-point margin in the regular season compared to the Voodoos but this year the clubs were very close in point totals as the Lumberjacks finished second in the East Division with 78 points, while Powassan finished third with 75.
For what it is worth, likely not a lot, the Voodoos took three of four regular season games against Hearst.
Peter Goulet has coached the Voodoos the last two seasons and got the better of Hearst in round one last year.
“Just be ready and prepared, they’re going to be ready for us. They want revenge for what we did to them last year, and we must be ready to go and play our own game and do our thing,” says Goulet who says staying consistent with last year should produce a good series result.
“We must prepare the same way we did last year. It is just another hockey game and after the regular season, nothing matters where you finished and what you did. It’s a brand-new season and they will be ready, and we will be ready,” says Goulet.
General Manager Chris Dawson is naturally confident about what his coaching staff can do in round one.
“Our talented coaching staff is doing a great job preparing this group for what we believe will be a long playoff run,” says Dawson. “Hearst has been playing some great hockey, but I think we have been too.
We have a deep group of forwards, a solid defensive corps and depth in goal as well,” says the Voodoos longtime GM.
Travel is going be a major trial for both teams in this series, with games one and two back-to-back Thursday and Friday of this week.
The series heads to Powassan for games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
