Ottawa, Ontario – Tonight, the Renfrew Timberwolves host the Arnprior for Game one inside the Ma-te-way Activity Center in Renfrew, Ontario for a three game wild card series.
Schedule: Renfrew Timberwolves (25-14-5) vs. Arnprior Packers (22-19-3)
GM 1 – Tuesday March 3/20 @ 8:00PM – @ Renfrew
GM 2 – Wednesday March 4/20 @ 7:30PM – @ Arnprior
GM 3 – Friday March 6/20 @ 8:00PM – @ Renfrew *If necessary
During the regular season, Renfrew won the season series over Arnprior 3-1 and outscored their opponents 18-to-8 for a goal differential of +10. Renfrew is the fourth seed and will have home ice advantage while Arnprior is the fifth seed.
September 29th: Renfrew 8, Arnprior 2
October 18th: Renfrew 5, Arnprior 2
December 27th: Arnprior 3, Renfrew 1
February 2nd: Renfrew 4, Arnprior 1
Renfrew’s keys to victory:
The Timberwolves main strengths throughout the season has been scoring, team defense and great goaltending from both Dallaire and Lapenskie this season. Renfrew has allowed 137 goals against this season which ranks 5th in the league.
Renfrew Timberwolves General Manager Brent Sylvester talks about on how Renfrew needs to be ready against Arnprior.
“We need to stick to the game plan that Jason Gould and his staff have put together as well continue our strong play in the month of February.”
Renfrew went 9-2-1 in the final month of the season, while outscoring their opponents 47-to-31 for a goal differential at +16. The most important key for Renfrew in this series is they need to stay disciplined. Renfrew has only taken 532 PIM throughout the year.
“We need to stay disciplined, shutting down Arnprior’s transition as well as taking away the eyes of goaltender Cameron Scott,” said Sylvester on keys to a series win.
The Transition games and as well as screening Cameron Scott are the other keys for Renfrew. The Timberwolves went with a young team this season and has payed off. Nolan Mcgregor (25G / 27A), Ben Langille (23G / 28A) and Zach Martin (18G / 25A) drove the Timberwolves offense throughout the year.
“McGregor, Langille and Martine are gonna get extra attention by not getting much time and space. They are gonna have to fight through the extra attention as well our depth will have to step up and be effective by supplying a balanced attack against a very good goalie,” said Sylvester on the top line and in need of depth stepping up.
It’s undetermined on who will get the start in Game one of the Wild Card Series and both Dallaire and Lapenskie were excellent in between the pipes during the season. Dylan Dallaire went 12-6-1, posting a 2.86 GAA / .925 SV% while playing in 22 games and Ethan Lapenskie went 13-8, post a 3.01 GAA / .907 SV% while playing 25 games in his final CCHL2 season.
Arnprior’s keys to victory:
The Arnprior Packers are the underdogs coming into this series and in the playoffs. This was a team that never gave up all season and had some character wins throughout the season, but when it comes to playoffs it’s a whole different Dynamic.
Arnprior Packers General Manager Matt Couvrette talks about on how slow down Renfrew and physically needs to be a big factor for them.
“We know they’ve got some youth and are going to put pressure on them early. We’re a big team and will establish a physical presence.”
Cameron Scott has been excellent in between the pipes and played for most of the season. He was 20-13-2 in 26 games, while posting a 3.40 GAA / .912 SV%. Goaltending will be another key for Arnprior in this series according to Couvrette.
“Cameron Scott has been huge for us all year, this will be no different. He is one of our leaders and will be ready to step up.”
James Buckley (18G / 27A), Joel Driscoll (10G / 30A), Jared Campitelli (17G / 22A), Danny Carroll (10G / 23A), Adam Church (16G / 12A) and Andrew Cuglietta (15G / 7A) drove the Arnprior offense all the season, but leading the way on defense was Jacob Cover (8G / 17A) and has been a reliable player on the back end. Also reliable was Brassard since being acquired in a trade from Athens and Pat Bones the assistant captain. Depth scoring and four lines rolling will need to be key in this series.
“We have four lines that can play hockey we’re going to use that in this series. When we play as a team, we are very hard to beat,” said Couvrette.
Verdict:
Both teams will need depth scoring and goaltending throughout this series. It’s expect that Scott will start for Arnprior, but for Renfrew, it’s 50/50 on who to start in this series. I think Renfrew has the better edge over Arnprior because of the season series and what kind of team Renfrew is this year. Renfrew went with a younger group and have a good top six unit. as for Arnprior they have good defensive players and some good depth scoring.
