Last year it took the Prince George Spruce Kings 14 playoff games to get to where they are now, about to host the first two games of the BCHL's Coastal Conference championship.
This year the Spruce Kings took a much more direct route to the third round, needing just nine games to gain eight victories and eliminate their first two postseason opponents.
Now they await the arrival Friday of the Victoria Grizzlies, who just endured a tough seven-game series victory over the Powell River Kings the Grizzlies capped off Monday with a 6-1 win in Victoria.
Nobody in their right mind would have predicted the Spruce Kings would sweep the regular-season champion Chilliwack Chiefs in a four-game series but that's exactly what they did, finishing off Chilliwack a week ago Tuesday to claim home ice advantage for the rest of the playoffs as the league's highest remaining seed.
"It feels awesome, especially against Chilliwack, a team we lost the regular-season title to (by one point) and it was really good to sweep them," said Spruce Kings captain Ben Poisson.
"We were fortunate enough to end the Coquitlam series in five so we had some rest there and (the Chiefs, in the first round) had Langley, which is a bigger more physical team. Going to seven, they were pretty worn down coming to us. We prepared well for them, had more time, and we executed our gameplan well."
Did they ever. The Spruce Kings outscored the Chiefs 21-3 in the series and aside from brief stretches in the second and fourth games their leads were never threatened. They had three lines scoring, including Poisson, who has a team-leading eight goals and 13 points in nine games.
"Every single guy in there is making a contribution - all of our d-men are playing well, our forwards are scoring, so everything's clicking for us," said Poisson. "Obviously you don't expect in the second round of playoffs against a Number 1 team to win 7-0 or 8-0 but with the group of guys in there and all the prep we do, we knew we were going to win that one. We're confident after knocking off the Number 1 seed but we don't want to get too high or too low, we just want to stay level and do the job."
Home ice and having a few extra days off no doubt helped the Spruce Kings in Round 2 and they have that in their favour hosting Victoria in the first two games of the next round at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, where they've been tough to beat, winning 13 straight and 20 of their last 22.
Half the current Kings roster went 24 games deep into the playoffs last year all the way to the BCHL final and the Chiefs, one of the youngest teams in the league, could not contend with their depth and experience.
"Certainly the leadership group has a good understanding what it takes to win in the playoffs and that showed from our first game on the road (in Chilliwack), in a real hard rink to play in," said Maglio. "We certainly took advantage of our experience through the playoffs last year."
Poisson, who centres a line with his brother Nick and Chong Min Lee, has raised his game to a new level in the playoffs. The 19-year-old University of Maine recruit was limited to just two playoffs games last year when he suffered a ruptured spleen late in the season and he's taken the Spruce Kings on his shoulders, setting the example by being hard on opponents with his checks when he doesn't have the puck and when he does he doesn't waste time unloading his big shot or feeding his teammates to create scoring chances.
"He wasn't even traveling with us in the playoffs last year and he prepared for this, you could tell deep down he was waiting for the playoffs to start and his play has been unbelievable, he's certainly a big part of our success," said Maglio.
That veteran leadership is also coming from the goal crease and the blueline. Goalie Logan Neaton and defenceman Max Coyle came to the BCHL this season from winning programs - Neaton with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL and Coyle from the junior B Listowel Cyclones - and they provide the backbone that has solidified the league's best defensive team.
"Before they came to us they had team success and individual success and as first-year players in this league they don't look like it and it comes down to character, they're great character kids and they were both big parts of both series wins," said Maglio.
The Grizzlies began the playoffs with a four-game sweep of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. Victoria will host Game 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday, with the 'if necessary' games the following Thursday in Prince George, Saturday, April 6 in Victoria and Monday, April 8 in Prince George. That's a lot of travel if it goes the distance.
The Spruce Kings-Grizzlies matchup is intriguing to say the least, pitting the league's most productive offence (Victoria) against the stingiest defence (Prince George). The Grizzlies lead the playoffs with 50 goals in 11 games and have allowed 27 goals for a plus-23 goals differential, same as the Spruce Kings. Through nine games they've scored 36 times and have given up a league-low 13 goals.
