Game 3 Stats / Facts

- So far, the series has gone in reverse to a year ago. Last year, the Terriers won Game 1, the Ice Wolves answered in Game 2. For what it's worth, the Ice Wolves won Game 3 in OT last year, Yorkton came back for a Game 4 win and it was 2-2 after four games.

- Top 6 scorers in the playoffs (and nobody's catching them): LAR Eggum (23), LAR Carre (22), LAR Herauf (22), YOR Ciolfi (17), YOR Buzzeo (17), YOR Breitkreuz (14).

- La Ronge also boasts the top three rookie point producers in the Post Season in Rhyse Dieno (4g-5a-9p), Justin Ducharme (4g-2a-6p) and Graham Smerek (2g-4a-6p).

- Yorkton's Kyle McLeod isn't far off, with 5 points (2g-3a), and is the only player in the series with 2 goals (both in Game 1).

- Dayton Fossum (LAR) leads all defensemen in points, with 8 assists in 12 games. His D-partner Byron Sorenson is next with 2g-4a-6p.

- No powerplay goals for either team in two games. Does that finally end tonight? The Terriers are 0/8 in the series and have dropped to 13.6% in the playoffs. Their penalty kill has made up for that, and they're now at 91.9%, thanks to an active streak of 40 consecutive kills. La Ronge is nipping at their heels at 89.5%... and while the Ice Wolves are 0/13 on the PP in this series, they're still an impressive 22.9% in the playoffs.

- Devin Peters has been forced to make more big saves than his counterpart Adam Bartko at the other end, but their numbers are nearly idential. They both sport 2.02 GAA's in the series, while Peters has a .941 save percentage, and Bartko's a shade higher at .946%. In the playoffs, Peters is 6-1, with a 1.29 GAA, and .962%. He also has 3 shutouts in 7 games played, after not recording one in the regular season.

- The Terriers are likely better suited for their home barn than the Mel Hegland in La Ronge. Generally, their top six forwards are more effective when they've got some room to build up some speed. The Ice Wolves' challenge will be to take that space away, even on a larger sheet of ice.

- La Ronge went 23-and-6 away from the friendly confines during the regular season, so it's not like they can only play in their own rink. We in the media use the cliche ("The Terriers got the split and now have home ice advantage.") True, for now, because there are a max of 5 games left, and 3 of them are in Yorkton, including 3 of the next 4... but all the Ice Wolves need is a split this week to force the Terriers to win at least one more up north. If Yorkton wins all their home games, they'll be lifting a trophy no later than Sunday... but the defending champs, and regular season league leaders are more than capable of stealing road games (hence their .793 road winning % in the reg season).

- I'll have a couple members of last year's Conference Champion Terrier team joining me for intermissions tonight and tomorrow... with Kevin Stringfellow stopping by after the first period tonight, and former captain Cody Zubko doing the same tomorrow.

- The Pre Game Show starts at 7:10, Play-by-Play at 7:30 from Farrell Agencies Arena on GX94.

- I called Ticketmaster at the Gallagher Centre this morning, and about 1100 tickets were sold for Game 3 as of 10:00 am. With another 6 or 7 hours for people to phone, plus a few hundred walkups, there's no reason why it shouldn't be over 1500... and MAYBE approaching the 2000 mark. I would think Game 4's crowd could and should be better than Game 3, and if there's a Game 6, I would hope it's nothing short of a sellout. You have no idea how many times a player asks me if I know how many tickets or sold, or if I think it'll be a sellout. IT MATTERS TO THEM! And they feed off the energy. 2200+ people erupted when Drew McDermott tied Game 6 of the final a year ago, in the game's final minute... now THAT was a loud barn!

See you at the rink!