THURSDAY -- G.P. up 1-0

One team came ready to play last night and it was the Grande Prairie Storm.

Coach Hamilton of the Spruce Grove Saints told Jeff Henson of Free FM in GP before the game that his team needed a good start to game one after their long layoff between rounds 3 and 4 especially since they didn't get off to great starts in either game one player earlier in the playoffs. This didn't happen with captain Connor Hardawa taking a penalty less than a minute into the game after he had to get up and get back into the play recovering from blowing a tire in the neutral zone when he hit a bad patch of ice where the red carpet had been for the pre game ceremonies. Not the home ice advantage you were looking for. The Storm didn't score on the powerplay but they had the early momentum and looked like the team that had just won two straight against Brooks to book their ticket to the final while the Saints looked like they hadn't been on the ice for a week.

You have to expect Spruce Grove to put in a better effort tonight for game 2 but if they can't figure out how to crack a smothering G.P. defensive system this series could be over earlier than a lot of people thought.

Chad Carder was not spectacular in picking up the shutout but did enough to get the job done while Travis Rolheiser would like to have at least 2 of the 3 goals back.

-----

A deadline deal working a year later than planned. The Spruce Grove Saints picked up Curt Morrison, Chad Blanliel and Future Considerations from Quesnel at last years deadline in exchange for Bonnyville product and former Northeast Panther Josh Fersovitch. Morrison and Blanliel, both 20, are now important cogs in the Saints lineup. While the BCHL webpage has Fersovitch's hometown as Bonneyville and not Bonnyville he does still have another year of junior in front of him after his Millionaires failed to qualify for the playoffs this seas.