Fighting for a spot

It’s do-or-die time for the Thunder Bay Chill.

Needing a to split to clinch a fifth straight playoff berth and four points to earn the Heartland Division crown, the Chill players are already treating this weekend’s home tilts against the division-leading Real Colorado Foxes as anything but friendly.
 
It’s the postseason already, said veteran defender Wilson Neto, who broke a two-year goalless streak last week against WSA Winnipeg.

 “This is a championship game for us. We can’t come soft in this game, we’ve got to come strong. We know that they just travelled this past weekend in the States. Now they’re going to come here, they’re going to be a little bit tired, but there’s no reason for us to take it easy.

“It’s an important game for us. We want to clinch the division title and we want to have the playoffs at home next weekend, so for us it’s win-or-go-home because we really don’t want to go to the playoffs away.”

The Chill check into the final weekend of regular season play in the Premier Development League with an 11-2-1 record.

They trail Colorado (11-1-2) by a point, and have a four-point cushion over third-place Des Moines, a team the Chill have beaten three times in four meetings.

They’re also undefeated against Colorado, earning a 0-0 tie earlier this month before beating them 4-1 on the road.

Knowing what they’re capable of is one thing, Neto said. But it’ll be a slightly different team the Chill will face, with goaltender Miguel Rosales in net for the speedy Foxes.

Rosales sat out the earlier loss, and will be tough to beat. Neto said the Chill will just have to focus on finding ways to beat him and making their chances count.

He likes being in the driver’s seat.

“We couldn’t ask for anything better,” Neto said. “We’re playing at home in a championship game … so whoever wins is going to win the title. For us it’s huge. That’s what we work for the whole season. It’s not just about qualifying for the playoffs. It’s really winning the division title, and then from there really trying to compete in the playoffs.

“We are right now the team that everybody wants to beat. Everybody wants to play against us. We were in the final last year, so at the end of the day we know the responsibility we have on our back, but at the same time we have the players and the staff to be in that position.”

Fellow Brazilian Gustavo Oliveira summed it up best.

“It’s all about winning. We need to win at least one game to be in the playoffs, but we want to win both so we can host the playoffs in the conference (championship). It’s really important for us to play at home,” said Oliveira, a playmaking forward whose normally calm demeanor disappeared against Des Moines a couple of weeks ago, costing him a red card and a two-game suspension.

Knowing they can beat Colorado, regardless of who is in net, gives them that much more confidence, Oliveira said.

“It was really hard games, but we beat them, so we feel like we’re ready for this weekend,” he said.

“We just have to play our game. That’s all we need now. We have a strong team. Defensively we’ve played so well this season. We just need to be better a little bit at finishing our chances. We’ve got to do good this weekend. “

Coach Tony Colistro said this is what he’s trained his players for, and he has every intention of coming out on top.

But he’s warned his players not to get too far ahead of themselves and remember to get that first win under their belts.

“As much as we could win the conference, we could be out of the playoffs just as easily. Which is good; it’s a good way to finish the season, with two important games, and hopefully we’ll prevail.”

Game time at Chapples Park Friday and Saturday night is 7:30 p.m.


Ice chips: The Chill will be looking for their 99^th win in franchise history on Friday … Anthony Putrus, who sat out Thunder Bay’s most recent contest because of yellow-card accumulations, will be back in the lineup, as will fellow midfielder Nolan Intermoia, who was rested in the finale against Winnipeg … Local product Steven Paterson will be in net for the Chill in the opener.