Jari Erricson has some unfinished business before he calls it a career in the Western Hockey League.
Before he has to decide where his next hockey address will be, whether it's in the professional ranks or playing for a university team, the 21-year-old Prince George Cougars left winger first has to find a way to get his Cougars kickstarted on a playoff roll that will keep them playing well into the month of May.
It all starts Friday night in Victoria, where the Cougars will play their first playoff game in four seasons against the Royals in a best-of-seven B.C. Division semifinal series. Erricson, who missed all but four games last year with a concussion, says his team is prepared for a Royal rumble with one of the biggest, most physical teams in the WHL.
After losing 11 straight games in January, the Cougars were in a dogfight the last six weeks of the season just to make the playoffs. They needed a 6-3-0-1 push in their last 10 games to nail down their spot and played their best hockey of the season down the stretch in February and March.
"We have a lot of character in the room and we've really shown that in the last month or so -- we pulled out of our skid and followed our coach's gameplan and came out and played every game like it was our last," said Erricson. "It was like playoff hockey back then and I feel we're definitely prepared and in the right mindset going into this series because we have been playing playoff hockey for so long.
"I was a younger guy when I got my playoff experience, 16 or 17, and I learned from the older guys that it comes down to filing those roles of being shutdown guys and that special teams really make a big difference in the playoffs. It's a stronger, tougher game where everyone is finishing their checks and every mistake really matters, so we just have to be on our details."
As Erricson is well aware, the Cougars are the most penalized team in the WHL, with the league's worst penalty-killing statistics. To be successful and possibly pull off a playoff upset, the Cats have to stay disciplined to avoid the Royals power play (sixth-best in the WHL, 22 per cent success rate). Erricson says the Royals love to mix it up and use their size advantage to agitate in the scrums but he predicts the Cougars won't fall into their traps.
"Mark (Cougars head coach Holick) has preached in the room about our penalties and over the past couple games we've done a really good job at staying out of the box," said Erricson.
The Royals are loaded with playoff-seasoned veterans who were with the team in 2013 when they lost to Portland in a five-game first-round series. The same guys were around last year when they swept Spokane, before losing another five-game series to Portland.
This is third-straight postseason appearance for Royals forwards Brandon Magee, Tyler Soy, Regan Nagy, Logan Fisher, Austin Carroll, Taylor Crunk, and Brandon Fushimi, as well as defencemen Joe Hicketts, Ryan Gagnon, Jack Walker and Chaz Reddekopp, and goalies Coleman Vollrath and Patrik Polivka.
Erricson is one of only three Cougars dressing for Friday's game with any WHL playoff experience. He was with the Everett Silvertips for three playoff games in his rookie season in 2011 and had a repeat three-game playoff stint with Everett in 2012.
The only other Cougars with WHL playoff resumes are defenceman Josh Connolly (14 games with Kamloops in 2013) and defenceman Tomas Adrlik (four games with Prince Albert in 2014)
That doesn't include winger Aaron Macklin, a veteran of 13 playoff games in 2013 when he was with Kamloops. Macklin is out with an upper-body injury and won't likely play in the Victoria series.
"We do have less experience, but everyone in that room at some point in their career has played playoff hockey and has watched NHL playoff hockey, so I'm sure everyone has it in their minds and they know what it's about," said Erricson.
"That first game will be a bit different for a few guys with the physicality, and the sooner they adjust to that the better off we'll be."
The Royals (39-29-3-1), who had a playoff spot sewn up weeks before they played their 72nd game, finished second in the B.C Division and fifth overall in the Western Conference with 82 points, 15 ahead of the third-place Cougars (31-36-2-3) who ended up seventh in the West with 67 points.
The head-to-head season series was fairly even. The Cougars won three of the eight games, lost one in overtime and one in a shootout to earn eight of a possible 16 points. Victoria outscored the Cougars by a combined 30-20.
Games 1 and 2 of the series are in Victoria, with the Cougars hosting Games 3 and 4 next Wednesday and Thursday. Erricson, a born-and-raised P.G. boy, had chills run down his spine listening to the crowd of 4,570 cheer the Cougars' playoff-clinching win over Kamloops last Friday at CN Centre. He can't wait to hear that playoff buzz again.
"Home ice is an advantage in any league in any situation but we have a good road record this season, we just seem to rally behind the pressure of an away crowd," said Erricson. "The last game I remember watching as a little kid was a Cougars' playoff game and to think we could get that atmosphere back in the building and to be a part of that, it's surreal. It's really humbling.
"To be able to have a chance to play some more playoff hockey and have a bit of run here and have a good series it's something I''m really fortunate to have in my last year in this league."
