Hunters even with Bulldogs

If the old adage of “defense wins championships” is to be believed, the Kahnawake Junior B Hunters are in good shape for another deep playoff run.

Indeed, the second-seed Hunters’ 178 goals against, playoff games included, is the second best of any Eastern Division team - tied with the West Durham Ironheads and 56 back of the first-seed Nepean Knights.

“We’ve been able to help the offensive side with what we do on our side, and with the help of our goalie as well, he’s been a huge part of the back end,” said Hunters’ defender Crayton Cree.

But before setting their sights on a matchup with the Knights in the East finals, they have the Halton Hills Bulldogs to deal with - a team that has given the Hunters a bit of trouble so far, as their first-round best-of-five series is tied 1-1.

The Hunters won the opening game in Halton Hills 16-11 on Saturday, but fell 11-8 on Sunday.

On paper, that may seem unexpected given their lone regular season matchup was a 16-4 blowout win by Kahnawake. But in the playoffs, every play matters, and the games will get tighter as each series progresses.

“We kind of just came to the conclusion amongst the players that we just made a few mistakes,” said Hunters’ defender Darris Jones, the leading scorer amongst Hunters’ defenders with 20 points in 17 games

Those mistakes included multiple trips to the penalty box in both games, taking nine penalties on Saturday and 10 on Sunday - and giving up a combined eight power-play goals in the process.

“The defensive team was just getting bombarded while we were a man down, so our set guys were really tired, but when it came down to it, they’d still have to go out there,” said Jones.

With a little less than a week between Sunday’s game and their playoff home opener on Friday night at 8 p.m. at the Sports Complex, Jones said they’ll be working on making sure those mistakes don’t happen again in front of the fans at home.

That’ll include making sure the defense keeps performing like it has - and making sure goaltender Kasey Lahache’s job is as easy as it can be.

The key to that, Jones said, is communication, especially because what the offense is bringing into the zone can be very different on a possession-by-possession basis.

“You have to communicate to your goalies and to the other players,” said Jones.

You have to listen, too.

“Kasey sometimes gets a little annoyed and can yell at us, and it’s our fault, it’s our obligation to listen and do what he says, because he sees the whole floor. He’s kind of the last line of defense, and he sees everything that happens. So, whether it’s a pick and a little bit of a kick, if the same player is doing that over and over again, Kasey sees that,” said Jones.

Kahnawake will be at home for every game that’s left in the series against the Bulldogs, and with their success at home this year - winning all but one home game - they are looking forward to advance in front of their faithful.

“I’m hoping we just win these two games and we can move on, healthy and happy.”

“I’m more than excited. I can’t wait to get to it at the ‘Plex, it’s a great spot for playoffs and the atmosphere gets intense in there,” said Cree.

Playing in the first round means a lot to him, as he had to leave last year’s playoffs due to an injury sustained in the first round.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to be back,” said Cree.

“I wanted to be back out there on the floor with all my boys.”

After their Friday game, they will play on Saturday at 3 p.m. and, if necessary, Sunday at 1 p.m.

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