Head to Head

October 7th:                     Bandits 0 @ Storm 8
October 21st:                   Storm 10 @ Bandits 4
November 25th:              Storm 7 @ Bandits 0
January 6th:                       Bandits 2 @ Storm 7
February 1st:                     Storm 6 @ Bandits 1
March 3rd:                          Bandits 2 @ Storm 4

Storm won all six contests, outscoring the Bandits 42-9

Quotes

"Our team played disciplined and were able to capitalize on our opportunities and strengths," said Bandits Head Coach Rick Baraniuk following the quarterfinal win over the Nipigon Elks.

“The Storm are a fast and tough hockey team that can score in bunches. We have to keep their forwards to the outside and be disciplined on our forecheck. I feel that we can match the Storm with our speed and toughness.”

“The playoffs are the start of a new season. We are not going into the series with the mindset of trying to steal a game at the Current River Arena. Our objective is to win four games in this series before they do.”

The Bandits will begin the series without defenceman Logan Doucet and goaltender Brock Macsemchuk to start the series.

Doucet will sit out Game One after receiving a Game Misconduct penalty in the last ten minutes of Game Two against the Elks.

Macsemchuk is eligible to return for Game Four after he picked up a Gross Misconduct penalty on March 8th against the Elks.

Storm Head Coach Robbie Untinen said while waiting for the next game hasn’t been easy, his team is ready to go for the playoffs.

“You’re always going to have players who have bumps and bruises so not everyone is 100 per cent,”Untinen added. “The worst injury to date was an upper body injury to Johnathan Beaucage but we are expecting a boost when he returns in the playoffs at some point.”

“Our boys need to be ready to compete every game because the Bandits have good speed and have been attacking teams much better.”

“It’s an exciting time of the year and I can feel the positive energy on our room. We had two of our best practices of the year this past week and I feel once that puck drops our boys will be ready to go.”

Series Schedule

Tuesday March 12th:                     Bandits @ Storm             7:00pm
Thursday March 14th:                   Storm @ Bandits             8:00pm
Saturday March 16th:                    Bandits @ Storm             7:00pm
Thursday March 21st:                    Storm @ Bandits             8:00pm
Saturday March 23rd:                   Bandits @ Storm             7:00pm
Thursday March 28th:                  Storm @ Bandits             8:00pm
Saturday March 30th:                   Bandits @ Storm             7:00pm

Bandits and Storm Showcase photo courtesy of Gary Moskalyk