Playoff Preview | Casselman vs Embrun

Graphic/Article: Mason Detre

 

Ottawa, Ontario – The Embrun Panthers will host the Casselman Vikings inside the Embrun Arena on Wednesday March 23rd 2022 in game one of a best of five Martin Divison Semi-Final series.

Schedule: Embrun (30-12-0) vs Casselman (23-15-4)

Game 1: Wednesday March 23rd @ 8:00pm – Embrun Arena

Game 2: Friday March 25th @ 8:00pm – Embrun Arena

Game 3: Sunday March 27th @ 7:30pm – Jr Brisson Complex

*Game 4: Wednesday March 30th @ 8:30pm – Jr Brisson Complex

*Game 5: Friday April 1st @ 8:00pm – Embrun Arena

The Embrun Panthers won the season series 5-1 and outscored the opponent 22-to-16 during the six games.

October 22nd: Embrun 2, Casselman 0

November 14th: Embrun 5, Casselman 4

November 30th: Embrun 4, Casselman 3

February 10th: Embrun 3, Casselman 0

March 4th: Embrun 6, Casselman 4

March 10th: Casselman 5, Embrun 2

Embrun’s keys to victory: 

It was a very impressive regular season for the Embrun Panthers, after missing the playoffs in the 2019-20 season, Embrun bounced back in a big way by collecting 30 wins out of 42 games. Head Coach of the Embrun Panthers Darrell Campbell was very impressed on how the season went.

“Really pleased with the progress of the team. Many of the players exceeded expectations. Season was consistent overall, while any stretches of poor play were kept to a minimum.”

Eric Skyba (48 PTS), Riley MacDonald (46 PTS), Juno Gregoire/Connor MacDonald (36 PTS), Charlie Belanger (30 PTS) and many other contributed in a big way every single night, by having lots of depth on this team.

“The depth on the team is made up all types of skill level while many consider themselves more as team players. They support and encourage each other and the hard work mentality tends to inspire everyone to be better. Players accepting to change positions when needed was positive,” said Campbell on his depth.

Aidan Foley was very impressive in between the pipes by collecting 17 wins throughout the season. He was first in GAA (2.01), first in SV% (.941) and tied for first in shutouts. He has the potential to be goalie of the year. The other goal who was terrific was Zachary Bowen, who is only 16 years old. Bowen went 13-5 in 19 games, collected a 2.15 GAA / .930 SV% with one shutout. Embrun was also first in the league by allowing the least goals by only allowing 87 goals against.

“The impression of both goalies were: they are very focused, very good work ethic, prepare for a game well, push and support each other all the time and they have fun playing the game. They both played a key part in stealing some wins for the team. said Campbell on the goaltending.

Campbell comments on the keys to victory in the upcoming series against Casselman.

“This is a fun time of the season where players need to enjoy themselves. Playoffs are stressful with a feeling pressure on everyone involved. These feelings can make it hard to play to one’s potential. Hopefully the players cope with this stress and are able to demonstrate their performances when pressure arises.”

The Panthers will need to use their speed in this five game series, be defensive and have great goaltending. Expect this series to be a very tight.

Casselman’s keys to victory: 

The Casselman Vikings were able to knock off the Char-Lan Rebels in two games by winning 5-2 and 2-0.The Captain Mathieu Talbot leads his team with two goals and two assists during the short three game series over the Rebels.

“He was huge in the two games and plays huge minutes on penalty kill, power play and regular shifts. He was in great in defensive situations, faceoffs in our zone. On top of that, he was able to show that he can score. He has had bad luck all year playing with different guys. Him and his line mate Pozzy (Nico Pozzebon) did an awesome job adapting, especially on every area of the ice.” said assistant coach Geoff Seguin on Talbot’s performance in the series vs Char-Lan.

The games that were play was a very tight series. He mentioned that the 5-2 score in game 1 wasn’t indicative on how the game went. The 2-0 game with the empty netter was a very tight game. Seguin also mentioned that Char-Lan was all over Casselman in the last two minutes of regulation and were able to hold their ground.

Another player that was big in the series was Tyler Stewart, who started the year in the CCHL with Rockland, but was sent to the EOJHL to play with Casselman. Ever since Stewart was acquired by Casselman, he became a big player.

“Since he showed up with us, he has been progressing to our liking, found a scoring touch, especially when we came back just before the shut down. He started finding the back of the net and he seems to be getting opportune goals for us. Had power play goals, drawing first blood in every game and is on a good streak and a good role right now. Knock on wood,” said Seguin.

Other players that contributed in the series were Lankester, Leblanc and Chartrand by collecting two points and Samuel Leveque had one goal, which came in game 1. Seguin notes that they had to survive the last bit of the third period in able to take the series, on top of that, Zachari Racine was busy during the third.

“We had a game plan and the guys played it to a tee. Great forechecking, kept #19 (Cuyler Molinaro) off the score sheet for two games in a row. Everybody bought in by blocking shots, keeping shifts short, rolling four lines. Zach came up huge when needed, he wasn’t busy in that game, but in the last portion of the third, he found himself busy. Early in the game, we killed off a 5-on-3 power play, which kinda got into a tight tight checking game from both sides,” said Seguin.

Casselman will now get their hands full against the Embrun Panthers in a five game series.

“It’ll be a tight series, if you look at the scores all year. We played them in a lot of one goal games. The last two games against Embrun were a little run and gun which I do not expect. Two great goaltenders and two great defensive teams with a lot of speed. It’s a very tight ice surface in Embrun. Every mistake will be a scoring opportunity for the other team, so its gonna be tight for sure,” said seguin.

The biggest keys to victory for Casselman is to have lots of speed, playing a great defensive game, like they did in the series win over Char-Lan and have your leaders step up.

Verdict: 

It’s very obvious. Defense and goaltending will be key for both teams in able to win this series. Expect games to come down to the wire. Speed can also turn into a factor during the series.