| Subject: Silos Face Long Odds |
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Saskatoon Sun
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Date Posted: 15:47:38 05/26/03 Mon
In the span of a couple of games, the line in Las Vegas on the Silos' chances of winning the Hoser Cup went from about 10:1 to 100:1.
Saskatoon will enter the playoffs without their top two goaltenders as the result of an injury to Jocelyn Thibault in the season's final game. Starter Curtis Joseph is already finished for the year, while Thibault could be lost to the team for at least one series, which may be all the playoff action the team will have.
Silos GM Ken McKenna scrambled to find a replacement for Thibault, since the organization is down to just one goaltender, Dwayne Roloson. Signed was journeyman goaltender Dominic Roussel, whose presence will bring Saskatoon's roster to the 25-man limit.
Head Coach Bob Hartley clearly seemed shell-shocked by the recent turn of events, but expressed confidence in his players.
"We have a better lineup going into the playoffs than we did last season," said Hartley. "The guys have been playing good defense over the past 10 games, so it almost hasn't mattered who we have in goal. There is no question, though, that losing Cujo and Jocelyn is a big blow, but I expect Dwayne and Dom to step in and do the job."
The Silos will face their nemesis from last season's playoff, the defending Hoser Cup champion Calgary Cougars. Calgary came back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Silos last season, so the Saskatoon players certainly have a bit of revenge on their minds.
"Yep, that playoff loss stung for a while," grimaced captain Martin Gelinas. "We got a little overconfident, and we lost Yashin for game 7, but we ultimately didn't get the job done. I like the team we have this year, though. I think we have a group of players that is capable of going a long way in the playoffs, but it'll be an uphill fight."
Saskatoon won the season series between the two teams, going 6-2-0 against the Cougars. The six wins include four straight victories in the Silos' last four meetings with Calgary. This would seem to indicate that Saskatoon has the advantage in this matchup, but no one on the Silos is taking their opponent for granted.
"We did OK against them last season, but we still lost to them in the playoffs," said Gelinas of his team's performance against Calgary in the 2002 season. "We aren't about to take them lightly this time around, regardless of how well we did against them during the season."
Silo Siftings: Saskatoon finished the season with six players over the 30-goal mark, including two (John LeClair, Alexei Yashin) over the 40-goal mark. Martin Gelinas finished with 28 goals, giving the Silos seven players over the 20-goal mark...LeClair, Yashin and Fleury finished amongst the top ten scorers, with each player exceeding the 100-point mark...Saskatoon prospect Derek Roy was named the MVP of the Memorial Cup tournament, with he and his Kitchener teammates taking the championship with a 6-3 victory over the Hull Olympiques.
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