Trojans head coach Darrell Mann, centre, looks from the bench during his team's final regular season game. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW).

By Aaron Schulze

Trojans Playoffs

‘We want to win the league’: playoffs not just a tune-up for Trojans

Feb 28, 2019 | 2:16 PM

The Tisdale Trojans 4-0 shutout over the Saskatoon Blazers, the third-place team in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) who were in first for most of the season, proved to be a perfect tune-up performance ahead of the 2019 SMAAAHL playoffs.

It was a much-needed end on a high note performance for the Trojans who went 6-4-2 in their final 12 games of the regular season. To put their final stretch into perspective, the Trojans had as many losses in their final 12 games (four regulation, two shootout) as they did in their previous 32 (three regulation, two shootouts, one overtime).

The final games in the regular season would typically serve as a tune-up for the win or go home playoff games that matter most. However, this season is different for the Trojans as Tisdale will host the 2019 Telus Cup Western Regionals in April.

The Telus Cup Western Regionals is a four-team round robin tournament featuring a representative from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northern Ontario, and one team from either of the areas to serve as the host. The winner moves on to the Telus Cup, Canada’s national midget hockey championship, in Thunder Bay, Ont. this year.

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Whether the Trojans win the SMAAAHL championship or get swept in the first round of the playoffs, they’ll be playing hockey no matter what.

Darrell Mann, Trojans head coach, isn’t concerned about a lengthy playoff run causing fatigue prior to the Western Regionals.

“We want to win the league,” Mann told northeastNOW. “Our focus all year was winning the league and that’s what we want to do. Whether we’re fresh or banged up, we want to win the league, win our way through regionals, then we’ll have a little two-week rest to get ready for the Telus Cup.”

Kalen Ukrainetz, one of the Trojans leaders on and off the ice throughout the season, appears to share the same mentality.

“I think we should just try and win one championship at a time and work our butts off for it,” Ukrainetz said. “We’ve got to focus on one thing at a time and everything will come together.”

With playoffs a clear priority, the Trojans will now shift focus to the seventh-seeded Beardys Blackhawks as their first-round opponent.

The Trojans lost their first regular season game against the Blackhawks 5-1 but ended up winning the next three games by a combined score of 11-5.

Mann knows the Blackhawks play the Trojans tough, especially their top scoring duo of Nolan Doell and Holden Knights (fourth and eighth in SMAAAHL scoring respectively) and winning the regular season series against them holds little weight going into a playoff series.

“Playoff hockey is a whole new beast,” he said. “Our players have to get themselves focused and ready to play, especially for that first game.”

Game one of the SMAAAHL’s quarter finals between the Trojans and the Blackhawks takes place Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Tisdale RECplex.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow