The National Lacrosse League playoffs don't officially start until next weekend.
But for Jeff Moleski and Conrad Chapman - the two Prince George connections in pro lacrosse - the postseason frenzy starts tonight at 7 in Langley.
Moleski, a defenceman for the Calgary Roughnecks, and Chapman, who plays transition for the Vancouver Stealth, face each other in a winner-take-all showdown to determine the last remaining NLL West Division playoff spot.
"It should be a pretty intense one, both teams obviously know what's at stake and everyone should be ready to go," said Moleski.
The Roughnecks (6-11) have lost two of three meetings with the Stealth (5-12). Another Roughnecks' loss would leave the teams tied with identical records but the Stealth would clinch third place based on the results in the season series.
Calgary began the season with six straight losses, two at the hands of the Stealth, before it finally ended the skid with a 16-13 win at home over Vancouver.
"The two games we lost to them at the start of the year, in all honesty, we were out of shape and they ran us in transition," said Moleski. "We're a different team now and we're getting some better goaltending (from Frankie Scigliano and Mike Poulin). It's a situation we wish we weren't playing in, but with a 0-6 start we're pretty fortunate that we are even in it."
So are the Stealth. Vancouver has just one win in its last 10 games and is coming off a 13-9 defeat last week in Buffalo.
"Playoffs start this weekend for us - it's a good feeling going into the game and I think all the boys are motivated to go in and battle for a spot," said Chapman. "The Roughnecks are going to come at us hard, they've been on a bit of a roll lately and we've kind of been on the opposite end of some bad losses. They're going to be flying and we have to come out equally as motivated."
With so much riding on tonight's game, Chapman anticipates a crowd close to capacity in the 5,276-seat Langley Events Centre.
"It should be packed, it should be exciting," Chapman said. "I have no clue if I'll be playing. It's been tough. I'm extremely anxious to play. If they let me get in there I'm not going to hurt them, that's for sure."
Chapman says he's learned over the course of the season the importance of studying game films and learning the tendencies of attacking players. He'll take that experience back to the Western Lacrosse Association this summer when he plays senior A lacrosse for the Nanaimo Timbermen.
"It's a physical game and you have to be able to think through it all," he said "You can't take a shift off and just go run around out there, you have to think and play smart every shift. Some of those guys are freaks, guys like Curtis Dickson (a Calgary forward who leads the Roughnecks with 47 goals). You think you have him in a spot where he can't do anything and then all of a sudden he's flying through the crease and doing crazy stuff like that. You have to really be on your toes."
In eight games as an NLL rookie, the 22-year-old Chapman has two goals and three assists. Drafted by the Stealth in the second round in 2014 (12th overall), Chapman has been a healthy scratch the past two games.
"They've had some injury problems over the year so he's got his shot, which is nice to see," said Moleski. "That's how I got my shot - somebody got hurt."
It took Moleski a full season to break in with the Roughnecks after they drafted him in the fourth round in 2003 from the Prince George Posse junior B ranks. He knows the six-foot-six, 230-pound Chapman will have to pay his dues before he'll draw regular duty with the Stealth. Moleski was on the practice roster in 2004 when the Roughnecks won the Champions Cup. He went on to become one of the league's top defencemen and won the NLL championship in 2009.
This season he was sidelined for two weeks and missed four games with a hamstring tear. He returned to the lineup last week for a game in Minnesota, a 10-6 win over the Swarm. The Roughnecks, who had a bye last weekend, have won three of their last four games.
"I think every team in the league is scared if we do get into the playoffs because we do have a talented team and we are kind of rolling now," said Moleski. "We do have the talent to do something in the playoffs, we just need to get there."
The winner of tonight's game advances to the West semifinal against the Colorado Mammoth next weekend in Denver. The Edmonton Rush await the winner of that game.
