The Milwaukee Power welcomes the Oregon Tradesmen back to Kettle Moraine Ice Center on Thursday, March 9 for the first round of the Central Division Fraser Cup Playoffs sponsored by Regal Ware. Game time is 7:30pm and the first 250 fans will receive a Power rally towel compliments of Gehl Food & Beverage and Gehl’s Cheese Sauce.
The two teams are 4-4 in the season’s regular season matchups, with the Power picking up two wins in the most recent meeting last weekend. They are no strangers to each other’s game, and the teams are about as equal as you will find at 4-4 and only a one goal differential during the regular season meetings.
The Power is led in scoring by Patrick Toomey (64 points) Blake Keller (59 points), Mike Dalay (46 points), Max Erstad (38 points) and Bryce Garber (33 points). The Power will start Adam Prokop in the Power net. Prokop is 22-4-2-1 with a 2.33 GAA and a 0.933 SV%.
The Tradesmen are led in scoring by Bryce Stensrud (58 points) and Carter Watters (53 points). Oregon is expected to have their starting goaltenders back after being out with injuries.
“The Power needs to focus this series on defensive zone structure. We gave up too many odd man rushes on Saturday night and we were fortunate that Prokop made timely saves. Strong team defense is the key to this playoff series and needs to be our top priority,” said Power VP Hockey Operations, General Manager Kevin Marion.
Game 2 of the first round is Friday, March 10 at 7:30pm at Oregon Ice Arena.
Game 3 (if necessary) is Sunday, March 12 at 3:00pm at Oregon Ice Arena.
The winner of this round one series will face the winner of the Rochester Grizzlies/Peoria Mustangs matchup in round 2 of the Central Division Playoffs, another best of 3 series the weekend of March 16-19.
All games will be broadcast on Hockey TV.
