Eagles vs. Wolves Weekend Preview
Apr 5, 2019
Story by Scott MacDonald
Throughout the course of a long and arduous 68-game schedule, it can be easy to dismiss a few games or a few losses incurred during the season. It’s often times not until the calendar is flipped to April where the reality and the importance of each and every game becomes the cold, hard truth.
Every game matters. Every win, every loss, every single point in the standings matters. Whether it’s the second week of October or the first week of April, a point is a point is a point. The importance of such has become a stark reality for the Colorado Eagles.
With just a handful of games left, the Pacific Division — and its three remaining playoff spots — remains very much up for grabs. For the remainder of what’s left of the season, one win by any team from second place to fifth place in the division reshuffles the Pacific’s standings. But by April 14, the final day of the 2018-19 American Hockey League season, no one wants to be that fifth-place team.
“It’s funny, four points separates us from second and two points separates us from third,” said head coach Greg Cronin before he and his team departed for Chicago to take on the Wolves in a two-game set. “Every team that’s sitting in fifth place is in the would’ve-should’ve-could’ve mentality.”
Cronin wants to make sure that mentality isn’t something that his team has to cope with come April 14.
“So these next four games we just got to play north-south hockey, the same way we played when we were on that nine-game winning streak,” Cronin added. “We didn’t have that many penalties, we played more of a team game, we competed hard; we’ve got to play that way or we’re not going to win.”
That nine-game win streak, which lasted from Feb. 26 to March 16, came at the perfect time for the Eagles. It propelled the team to the contentious position they’re in right now. While Colorado currently claims the fifth spot in the Pacific Division standings, they’re most certainly not guaranteed to stay there, and neither are the three teams ahead of them.
While it is very high-pressure, it certainly makes for some entertaining hockey, and Colorado captain Mark Alt is all about it.
“Hey, this is how you want it, this is fun hockey,” said Alt. “We know we're in control of our destiny here with these last [games], so we’ve got to win out, we got to give ourselves a chance no matter what happens around us with other teams. It’s on us.”
It most certainly won’t be an easy task getting through the rest of the Eagles’ schedule. Two teams stand in the way of Colorado and a first-year AHL playoff berth. First, the Chicago Wolves, who have already claimed the Central Division crown; and the San Jose Barracuda, who are one of the four teams vying for one of the Pacific’s final three available playoff positions. It will more than likely come down to that final day of the regular season.
“Guys are excited but there’s always a little bit of nerves,” said Alt. “Now it’s on the line. You know each game for the rest of the season now these points are going to matter. You don’t want to look back and say ‘I wish I would’ve done that’…you got to give everything every game for these last [few games] and just see what happens.”
The Colorado Eagles travel north for a two game set against the Central Division leading Chicago Wolves. Both games will be televised at The Summit Windsor and The Summit Thornton, with a puck drop time of 6pm MST on Saturday and 2pm MST on Sunday. The games will also be streamed live over the air on 92.9 The Bear.
