GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's about time!
13 days after their last regular season game, the Grand Rapids Griffins are gearing up to play the Manitoba Moose in round two of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
A break that Head Coach Dan Watson has taken advantage of, the best he can.
"You try to put guys in situations in practice where there's, you know, it is competitive, there's some physicality, there's some intensity to it, you know. And again, you have to use sort-of the sports science and the data behind that to help you maintain that sort of workload that you need," Watson said. "So you're prepared, and you're not going in there tired or you're not going in there under worked, and now you're a little bit sluggish too. So I think we've managed it well, but hopefully we're going to see what it looks like."
On paper, it looks like the Griffins have a nice advantage over our neighbors to the north. Finishing the regular season series against the Moose 6-1-1-0 and scoring four or more goals in five of the eight contests. But the playoffs are a different season, especially when you are starting a series on the road against a team with momentum.
"They've got confidence in that building right now with winning the last two games when their backs are up against the wall, you know", said Watson. "They've got momentum right now in a series, and it hasn't even started yet, just because we've been off for so long. So I think for us, it's really important how we start our mental side of the game and then getting everyone involved early, as early as we can."
And it's not just momentum the Griffins have to account for.
"They do a good job of protecting the inside in the middle of the ice, in their defensive zone, and their goaltender played extremely well in the last few games. It's a big test," added Watson. "They've played us hard all year long."
#4 Manitoba Moose vs. #1 Grand Rapids Griffins
- Game 1 Sat, May 2- Manitoba 3:00 PM
- Game 2 Sun, May 3 - Manitoba 3:00 PM
- Game 3 Wed, May 6 - Van Andel Arena 7:00 PM
- Game 4 (if needed) Fri, May 8 - Van Andel Arena 7:00 PM
- Game 5 (if needed) Sat, May 9 - Van Andel Arena 7:00 PM
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