Falcons set for Titans (updated with schedule)

The St. Catharines Rankin Construction Falcons haven’t used the two weeks off between playoff rounds to slack off or go on vacation. 

Instead, Falcons president of hockey operations/head coach Tyler Bielby has attempted to keep things as normal as possible while waiting for an opponent.

“We’ve handled it by sticking to routine and then in addition to that we added some extra sessions,” Bielby said. “I got them up and out of bed on Sunday morning and to the rink which you know every teenager I’m sure loves on a Sunday morning. 

“We have to make sure we stay prepared and we’re working hard and keeping our playoff lungs up. We’ve been competing extremely hard against each other in practice and I’m really proud of the way that the boys have used this time because they haven’t taken it for granted and they’ve really worked to get better day in and day out.”

The Falcons back into action Friday when they host the Brantford Titans in Game 1 of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League best-of-seven semifinal playoff series. The remaining dates of the series will be announced shortly. 

The Falcons last saw action two weeks ago when they eliminated the Hamilton Kilty B’s in Game 5 of their quarter-final playoff series.

Bielby said the down time can be an advantage if used properly.

“It’s a balancing act,” he said. “Once you start going you want to stay in that mode, but at the same time, if having a bit of a break waiting for an opponent allows you to get healthy and allows your guys to focus on some other things they have going outside the rink, including exam period time right now for the university boys, I think it’s been great for our team.

“We feel good. We’re feeling healthy. All cylinders are firing, and I don’t think without this break we would have had that luxury.”

The Titans, who dropped all four games versus the Falcons in the regular season, turned their year around by winning three in row to end the schedule and qualify for the playoffs before upsetting the second-seeded Ayr Centennials in the quarter-finals in seven games.

“You can see that the team is playing for each other,” Bielby said. “They seem to be a very connected group right now. 

“We can’t look at them as a seven seed. We have to look at them as a hockey team that has earned their opportunity to play in the second round. They want to send us home just like they sent Ayr home and we have to be ready because they deserve to be where they are.”

The Titans feature a pair of dynamic scorers — Ethan Szabo and Tyler Crisostomo — as well as mobile defenceman Patrick Babin, a Niagara Falls native who led Brantford in scoring in the first round.

“We’ve got to be really mindful that they can be explosive offensively and they’ve got some real targets and some threats. They have a couple 30-goal scorers. We don’t have any 30-goal scores in our lineup so we have to make sure we respect that and take away their time and space,” Bielby said. “We’ve got to make sure we put together a full 60 minutes if we want to beat them.”

Brantford coach Dan Fitzgerald, a former Falcons bench boss who also spent time as head coach of the Niagara IceDogs, feels his team is peaking at the right time.

“We’ve had a really big second half here,” he said. “Getting that 3-0 lead and then losing three straight and having to win a Game 7, at the end of the day, that wasn’t actually anything new for us. We lost three straight to Caledonia the second last week of the regular season and we needed to win three straight games, including a do-or-die against Pelham just to get into the playoffs, and that was on the road as well.”

Fitzgerald said the Titans are far from satisfied.

“That Pelham win could have been our Stanley Cup and getting into the playoffs and then have a big letdown and that certainly wasn’t the case,” he said. “We just want to continue to stay the course and not let there be an emotional hangover or any sort of letdown. But we also don’t need to get too high. We just need to stay level headed and stay focused on the task at hand. We just need to stay level headed and stay focused on the task at hand.”

Fitzgerald is well aware the Falcons will provide a formidable opponent.

“What I respect the most about their club is how mature their game is,” he said. “They are simplistic in the sense that they don’t try to overwhelm you with any sort of trickery or they don’t cheat for offence. They just play a really tight game and are very difficult to generate offence against them and then they take advantage of their opportunities when they get them.”

Prediction: St. Catharines in 5.

Game 1

Friday, April 4 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.

Game 2

Sunday, April 6 at Brantford, 7:30 p.m.

Game 3

Monday, April 7 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.

Game 4

Thursday, April 10 at Brantford, 7 p.m.

*Game 5

Friday, April 11 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.

*Game 6

Sunday, April 13 at Brantford, 2:30 p.m.

*Game 7

Tuesday, April 15 at St. Catharines, 7 p.m.

*if necessary

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