The Steinbach Pistons are facing the Selkirk Steelers in the first round of the 2021-2022 MJHL playoffs with game one set for Friday, March 25.
Season Series:
September 17 – 10-4 Pistons win
September 18 – 4-1 Pistons win
September 24 – 5-1 Pistons win
September 25 – 3-0 Piston win
February 18 – 5-3 Pistons win
February 21 – 7-0 Pistons win
March 4 – 8-1 Pistons win
March 5 – 4-1 Pistons win
SPECIAL TEAMS:
PISTONS: PP – 11/37 – 29.7% PK – 41/43 – 95.3%
STEELERS: PP – 2/43 – 4.7% PK – 26/37 – 70.3%
The Steinbach Pistons are playing at an all-time high right now as they enter the playoffs riding a 15-game win streak. Over that span the Pistons outscored their opponents 87-23. The Pistons have an immensely deep lineup with all aspects of their game performing well. Whether it be the powerplay, penalty kill, goaltending or even strength play, the Pistons are a team that will compete and make it a challenging game for their opponent. The Pistons have had their way with the Selkirk Steelers this year with only one of the eight games they played against each other within 2 goals. The Pistons will need to stick to their style of play and not get in their own heads, viewing the games over before they have even started. Playoffs is an exciting time giving each team an equal opportunity to win.
The Selkirk Steelers had a bit of a waiting game to get into the playoffs. Selkirk and Portage were battling it out for the final playoff berth, and it went down to the final game of the MJHL season with Portage losing to Virden. The great thing about playoffs is that the regular season means nothing, and everything starts fresh. The Steelers will be looking to build off this clean slate and come out firing against the Pistons. With a physical game the Steelers will look to disrupt the Pistons flow of play and force errors and in turn capitalize on those errors. Should be an exciting series with some good hockey played.
“I am really excited for my first MJHL playoffs” Pistons forward and alternate captain Quinton Pepper commented. “We have a really strong and deep team this year, we have proved in the regular season we can do what it takes to win but now it’s time to bring that mentality to another level into the playoffs.”
When asked what to expect from the Pistons this playoffs Pepper stated, “it has been a long time since the fans have seen Pistons playoff hockey, and we are ready to bring that high expectation of winning that our fans have seen in years past.”
“We are just looking to continue to execute the details in our game and play the right way” Head Coach and GM Paul Dyck stated. When asked how the Pistons will translate their regular season success into the playoffs Dyck said, “pretty simple, we would like to bring good habits into Game 1. Yes, we had a successful regular season, but it is over and the 8 remaining teams are all starting with 0 wins this Friday.”
Looking ahead at the upcoming series with the Selkirk Steelers Dyck commented, “you can expect to see 2 teams that are hungry to win and a tenacity to the game. Naturally there may be some nervous energy with so many players playing in their first playoff game at our level. Should be a lot of fun.”