Sapurji: Of Chicken Strips and Champions

The playoffs are a great time of year, not only because of the intensity of the hockey -- but because you get to talk to a lot of people you might have missed during the regular season.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with Peterborough Petes rookie forward Ryan Spooner. He had just returned home from practice and was making some Kraft Dinner. I wondered if that was perhaps some kind of ritual meal, special for the post-season.

"No, I always eat chicken strips before my games," said the Petes rookie, who scored 30 goals and 28 assists in 63 regular games. "It's my favourite thing to have.

"I'll have it with noodles and broccoli and carrots and stuff."

It's especially important at this time of the year for players to get sufficient proteins and carbs, so it's good to know Spooner is getting the essentials. He'll need his strength against the No. 2 seed Brampton Battalion when they open their series tonight at the Powerade Centre.

But still, Spooner says there are some advantages to being the underdog in the series.

"It a lot easier, because all the pressure is on them to win," the 17-year-old told the Toronto Star. "They're favoured to win and all we can do is work extremely hard because that's all people expect out of us. If we end up winning, people will be shocked ... but I think we can do it."

After speaking with Brampton captain Cody Hodgson earlier in the week, the Battalion aren't taking the Petes lightly - no matter how far behind they were in the standings.

NOTE: Hey, after Sudbury beat Belleville 2-1 last night it just shows that there is no team safe from being upset on any given night.

But the key, as far as Hodgson is concerned, is Batts goaltender Thomas McCollum.

“He’s incredible, I think he’s the best goalie in the league,” Hodgson told the Star. “He’s won games by himself for us, he’s so confident back there and it really translates into confidence as a team for us.”

With all due respect, I think Hodgson -- who could be the best player in the CHL right now - will be the key to the series, especially since he loves playing in Peterborough.

CAUTION HORSES: Talking to Majors goaltender Chris Carrozzi recently, I had to ask him about the comments made by Barrie Colts defenceman Ryan Gottschalk in the Barrie Examiner.

"...Instead of playing 40 minutes, we're playing 60 minutes. I think St. Mike's should be afraid," said Gottschalk.

Oh snap! (do people still say that?)

"He can say whatever he wants to get his team motivated," said Carrozzi. "But when it comes down to it, we’re fully confident in ourselves that we’re going to win this series."

This is going to be some series. I can't wait to head to the Hershey Centre tonight.

GOING THE DISTANCE: Mississauga head coach Dave Cameron said something interesting yesterday about how he prepares his team for the post-season.

"I've always told my teams when we start a playoff series, is that always expect a series to go to seven games with overtime," said Cameron. "You have to have that mindset because you don't want to get too high or too low.

"It's going to be about imposing your will on the other team and Barrie's a real good team. There's not a lot of difference between us, so a big part of it is going to be who can stay the course."

Cameron also said that Latvian import Kaspars Daugavins would be ready for tonight's game after he missed the team's last regular season game with an upper body injury.

"We're completely healthy," said Cameron. "We have no excuses!"

As always - questions, comments, compliments, complaints, threats etc: sunaya19@hotmail.com