THE YELLOWSTONE QUAKE ARE MOVING ON TO THE SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS AFTER DISMANTLING THE GILLETTE WILD IN ROUND 1. THE QUAKE WON THE FIRST GAME ON THURSDAY 4-1 AFTER GOING UP EARLY 3-0. FRIDAY’S GAME WAS A GRITTY GUT IT OUT PERFORMANCE BY THE QUAKE WHO CAME AWAY WITH A 4-3 OT VICTORY. WITH THE WIN THE QUAKE ARE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ROUND AND WILL FACE-OFF WITH A FAMILIAR OPPONENT, BOZEMAN. HEAD COACH PHIL OBERLIN ON THE MATCH-UP.
“YOU KNOW THAT’S KIND OF WHAT WE WANTED. WE FEEL LIKE WE MATCH-UP WELL AGAINST BOZEMAN. YOU KNOW ITS BEEN 2-6 RECORD AGAINST THEM THIS YEAR BUT AGAIN, A LOT OF THOSE GAMES HAVE BEEN TWO GOAL GAMES OR ONE GOAL GAMES, THROUGHOUT. SO THE GUYS ARE CONFIDENT, THEY AGAIN, THEY WANTED BOZEMAN.”
THE QUAKE ENTER THEIR FACE-OFF AGAINST THE ICE DOGS WITH ALL THE CONFIDENCE IN THE WORLD. BOZEMAN IS A TEAM THE QUAKE HAVE PLAYED TOUGH ALL YEAR. IT’S A TEAM THEY’RE FAMILIAR WITH AND AN OPPONENT THEY CAN’T WAIT TO PLAY. COACH OBERLIN ATTRIBUTES THE BUDDING RIVALRY TO TWO MAIN POINTS.
LUKE HARTGE PLAYED FOR US LAST YEAR, HE PLAYS FOR BOZEMAN THIS YEAR. JUST PART OF THAT RIVALRY THAT, WHEN YOU GET TO KNOW SOMEBODY PRETTY WELL, WHEN YOU COMPETE EVEN THOUGH IT’S MAYBE NOT A PERSONAL THING BUT IT’S JUST BRAGGING RIGHTS A LITTLE BIT. SO THEY’RE ALWAYS GOING TO PLAY HARD. THEY (BOZEMAN) ARE A VERY SKILLED TEAM, THEY’RE NOT QUITE AS PHYSICAL. SO I THINK THAT ALLOWS US TO PLAY OUR GAME A LITTLE MORE FREELY. SO I THINK WE JUST MATCH-UP WELL AGAINST A MORE SKILLED TEAM AND WE CAN PLAY OUR GAME A LITTLE BIT MORE.”
COACH OBERLIN GOES INTO WHAT BOZEMAN DOES WELL AND WHERE THEY EXCEL THAT THE QUAKE WILL HAVE TO PREPARE THE MOST FOR.
“THEY’RE FAST AND THEY MOVE THE PUCK WELL. THEIR PUCK POSSESSION IN THE O-ZONE IS REALLY GOOD. IF WE’RE ABLE TO BREAK THE PUCK OUT CONSISTENTLY, NOT ALLOW THEM TO GET SUSTAINED TIME IN THEIR OFFENSIVE ZONE… WHEN WE END UP GIVING UP OPPORTUNITIES IS WHEN THEY’RE ABLE TO PIN US IN THE DEFENSIVE ZONE AND START TO MOVE, START TO BUZZ AROUND AND THAT’S WHERE WE START TO LOSE GUYS AND MAYBE GET EXPOSED TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ICE SOMETIMES. IF WE CAN BREAK THE PUCK OUT AND GET THE PUCK MOVING NORTH RIGHT AWAY, I THINK THAT’S GOING TO HELP US OUT IN THE LONG RUN.”
AND COACH OBERLIN FEELS THE DIFFERENCE IN THIS SERIES COULD COME DOWN TO GOAL-TENDING.
“THEY KIND OF FIXED THAT HERE IN THE SECOND HALF. THEIR GOALTENDER HAS PLAYED REALLY WELL. WE FEEL LIKE WE HAVE ONE OF THE BEST GOALTENDERS IN THE LEAGUE IN MICHAEL ALLMAN. WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE PLAYING WELL IN FRONT OF HIM. WE HAVE TO HELP HIM OUT, LET HIM SEE PUCKS AND KEEP PUCKS OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE ICE AND NOT GIVE UP A LOT OF SCORING CHANCES CAUSE WE KNOW WHAT WE’RE GOING TO GET OUT OF HIM. YOU KNOW AGAIN, SAME THING EVERY WEEKEND, GOOD TEAM DEFENSE, OPPORTUNISTIC OFFENSE IS KIND OF WHAT NEED TO DO.”
THE YELLOWSTONE QUAKE CONTINUE THEIR RUN IN THE FRASER CUP PLAYOFFS THIS WEEKEND WHEN THEY TAKE ON BOZEMAN. THE SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS BEGINS FRIDAY AT THE REILLY ARENA, PUCK DROPS AT 7:30PM. STAY TUNED TO THE BIG HORN RADIO NETWORK FOR UPDATES AND RESULTS.
