The playoffs can feel like a marathon.
But the first round of the chase for the Calder Cup is a sprint.
The Wranglers start their post-season campaign Wednesday night, road warriors in a best-of-three affair against the Tucson Roadrunners.
Every minute of the series will be played amid the backdrop of Arizona sunsets and cacti; the team practiced Tuesday at the Tucson Arena with an eye on starting on the front foot in Game 1.
Calgary enters the post-season as the seventh seed in the Pacific Division, 15 points behind the host Roadrunners.
Head coach Trent Cull is well-aware his team has its work cut out for them if they wish to advance to Round 2.
“We’re playing the second seed, we’re the seventh seed. We know we’ve got a huge opponent, we are certainly the underdogs,” Cull said Tuesday afternoon from Arizona. “I feel like we’ve never really had (our) team, had the guys back, we haven’t really felt like that a lot of the time this year. Our preparation, going away on the road, it’s nice to be here together, be ready to go.
“These best-of-three series are so quick, so we’ve got to make sure we start well. I think we’re ready to go.”
And yes, the Wranglers will have reinforcements in tow – forwards Matt Coronato and Adam Klapka, defenceman Ilya Solovyov and goaltender Dustin Wolf – the reigning AHL MVP – all skated in the club’s regular-season finale Saturday night in Abbotsford, and all four will bring NHL experience to the table come AHL playoff time.
Coronato played 34 games for the Flames in his first pro season, while Wolf finished 7-7-1 from his 17 outings with the big club. Solovyov and Klapka each recorded points – Klapka’s coming by virtue of his first NHL goal – in the final week of the NHL regular season.
At the AHL level, Coronato and Klapka combined for 87 points, Solovyov put up 15 of his own from the blueline, while Wolf led the team with 20 wins during the regular season.
For Cull, the quartet’s return brings with it a bit of a stabilizing effect – in all, 48 players wore the Wrangler crest during the 72-game regular season.
“Solo was gone for a couple weeks, Klapper was gone for a week, Wolfie’s been kind of up and down throughout the whole year and especially with Matt, he’s been gone, I mean, for the last two, three months,” Cull said. “We’ve had a lot of guys go out the door this year through different circumstances. I think it gives the guys that are here a little bit of a shot in the arm to see some of these guys come back and excited to see everybody.
“The other great thing is, too, I know those guys, whenever they’ve been away, they’ve always kept in touch with the group here, so there’s always been a tie. They’re always checking in, seeing how guys are doing, they’re coming to some of the games, seeing ‘em around the rink; they’re still part of it, that’s for sure.”
Wranglers captain Brett Sutter, meantime, has seen it all over a pro career that’s included over 1,150 AHL regular-season and playoff games.
Like his teammates, he’s excited to see some youthful energy at the top of the lineup in the likes of Coronato, Klapka and Jakob Pelletier, but he’s also cognizant this series against Tucson could well be determined by how well Calgary plays away from the puck, especially given that three of the four regular-season meetings were decided by a single goal.
“What we’re going to have to hang our hat on is being a really good checking team,” Sutter said Tuesday. “We haven’t scored a ton of goals all year, so what we’ve tried to do is be a hard team to play against, a team that checks hard for chances and makes it kind of a stingy night for the other team.
“I like our character, I think guys want to play hard for each other, guys are excited for the opportunity. Wanting to play for your teammate is sometimes one of the biggest strengths you can have.”
The Wranglers and Roadrunners split their four-game season series, Calgary’s two wins coming via shutout on home ice, as well as a 5-4 overtime win on the road March 5.
Klapka led the Wranglers in regular-season scoring against Tucson with four goals and eight points, while Ben Jones chipped in with three goals and three helpers of his own.
On the other hand, no Roadrunners player put up more than three points against Calgary this season, including highly-touted youngsters Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther, both of whom were re-assigned from the NHL late last week.
As for Wolf, he kept pucks out, posting a .960 save percentage over his two starts against Tucson this season.
To a man, the Wranglers are excited to be back at full strength, and eager to make their mark at the drop of the puck.
Game 1 is slated for Wednesday at 8 p.m. MT, Game 2 goes Friday night at 8 p.m. MT, with Game 3 – if necessary – scheduled for Sunday night at 8 p.m. MT. Sportsnet 960 will carry the radio broadcast of all three games, while you can watch all the action live by subscribing to AHLTV.
Come puck drop, it’s a chance too, perhaps, for Cull’s crew to capture some of its early-season energy – one that powered Calgary to a 16-4-1 record over its first 21 games of the season.
“We’ve been a very good hockey team throughout different (times) this year,” he said. “We started out great, we’ve had a lot of adversity, guys in and out but now it’s time for the guys that have been here, that have developed and had good years, now it’s their turn. It’s that opportunity for guys to step up in playoffs, and sometimes, these playoff games, they decide a person’s career path, it’s such a good opportunity, and it’s exciting. Even me, I’ve been around it quite a few years, and it’s awesome, I get goosebumps, still get excited.
“I’m all giddy about being here, it’s what you work so hard for all year.”