Saints Advance to Round 2...
The Saskatoon Saints defeated their Round 1 opponents, the Indianapolis Ignite, in five hard-fought games. Four of the games were 1 goal affairs while the Saints won Game 4 in a 2-0 shutout. Tuukka Rask (G) had a solid first round series against the Saints' Division Rivals and is the obvious starter for Round 2 against the Rednexs. The short season series between the Saints and Rednexs was tied with both teams winning one game each: various predictions have been made but it is clear that this will be another close series. The two teams have met before in the playoffs and the Rednexs have usually been the dominate club. However, this is a new Rednexs club - minus the ol' Bertuzzi-Kovalev duo. The Saints, too, have a new look and this year GM Geoffrey Young has raised expectations: "I believe we are the best club in the Eastern Conference and we should be able to make it the TFHL Finals this year...hopefully, we can challenge for our first TFHL Championship...there are few variables, as always; including injuries and streaks, but we are confident that we have the best all-around team in our conference."
The Saints' Powerplay, ranked #6 in the TFHL, will need to be dominate in this series. The Rednexs have a wicked offensive punch: their PP is a surprising #4 in the TFHL.
The Saints' Penalty Kill is the #1 in the TFHL and will have to be solid against the Rednexs. The Rednexs' Penalty Kill is a serious lacuna, ranking only #13 in the league.
The Saints, #1 in the East Conference, are the clear favourites in this contest against the seventh placed Rednexs. The Saints had a .596 win% compared to the Rednexs sub-par .465. This being said, expect this series to be a close one, with a possible upset - it is not unprecedented, this playoffs or in the past. Brent Johnson will have to stand on his head, again this series - he had a .923 save % and a 1.99 GAA in upseting the Bonnyville Pontiacs in six games. The Saints' best players - Christopher Higgins, Markus Naslund, Keith Ballard and Tuukka Rask - will have to dominate the relatively young Rednexs club. The puck drop for Game 1 is tonight in Saskatoon: the Saints have never made it past the 2nd round throughout the entire Ancient and Modern TFHL history - GM Young: "the time is now...this is our year."
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