INNISFAIL - Ryan Dodd is not worried.
The head coach of the Innisfail Eagles is confident his club can get back on track on the winning side in Game 4 of the North Central Hockey League (NCHL) finals that is set for Friday night at the Innisfail Twin Arena.
If that happens the Birds can take a 3 – 1 lead in the best-of-seven senior men’s hockey finals.
“I fully expect (Lacombe players) are going to come up storming out and try to regain home ice advantage,” said Dodd of his team. “We just need to meet their intensity with our intensity.”
The Eagles had a practice on Wednesday, following their 4-3 loss to the Lacombe Generals on the road on March 16.
Dodd said it was a good workout on “small details.
“Whether it was the power play or areas that we back check into, or, how we're penalty killing. We worked on a lot of stuff, just the small details of the game,” said Dodd, noting the first three games of the finals have all been close. “None of them are blowouts. So, when you get into tight games like this, it comes down to the small details of the game.
“The guys are feeling really confident. We know we're still in a good position here,” he added. “We're up two games to one going into Game 4 and Game 4 is on home ice.
“I mean, why not? Why not put our best foot forward and win that hockey game?”
What’s more, he added, his team must come out of the gate tonight with a hard-hitting physical game.
“We got to throw our body around. We got to skate and put pucks into good areas and then work the system that we built,” said Dodd. “Our system has been effective this year and when we stick to our game plan nobody can get away from it.
“One thing we failed to do in Lacombe was put pucks on the net early in the game,” he added. ”So, we need to skate, and then we need to put pucks there, and then we need to go there.”
Dodd noted it has been a long season for both teams, and that weariness may have briefly set in for the start of Game 3 last weekend in Lacombe that allowed the Generals to begin the game with plenty of energy, which may have caught the Birds off guard.
In the second period of Game 3, the Eagles were out-shot by a margin of two to one and the score was 3-1 for the Generals.
“I think that we got tired, and we didn't activate our legs and get skating as early in the game as I'd like to but once we started skating, it just showed again and we took over,” said Dodd.
The Eagles battled back in the second half of Game 3 and came within inches of tying the game late in the third period but ultimately the Generals won the game 4-3.
“I still think that we've got momentum. We've got momentum coming back into our arena,” said Dodd. “The guys are talking about how the arena is going to be full of people again and they're all talking about getting their families there early so they can get good seats.
“They're very excited to come home and play in front of their fans, and hopefully we can keep it rolling into Saturday.”
And the Birds will still go with rookie Chance Griffith in net.
“Even though you get a little shower on your fire every once in a while, it’s still burning. He's strong. There's no reason to take the kid out,” said Dodd. “It was a 4-3 loss, yeah but it wasn't his fault.
“He gave us every opportunity to win the hockey game, and he's our guy. We're sticking with him.”
Puck drop tonight is 8 p.m. at the Innisfail Twin Arena.
On Saturday, March 22, the Eagles will be heading to Lacombe for Game 5. Puck drop at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex is 7:45 p.m.
