The Neepawa Titans' push to the 2024 Turnbull Cup playoffs continues on Tuesday night when the club makes their final season trip to Winnipeg to play the Blues.
Sitting at 26-27-1 entering a very busy final week for the club, they currently occupy the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division and the Titans are in a good place. Entering Tuesday's contest five points up on Waywayseecappo with four games remaining, the scenario is quite simple for the Titans.
Even if Waywayseecappo were to win their final four games of the season, all the Titans need is three points over their final four games to clinch the final spot in the Wicked West. The Titans have been taking care of business as of late with wins in five of their last seven games.
"It's an exciting time of the year, we've had some pretty intense practices here to prepare ourselves for what's next," said Pearson.
Neepawa has been a team of ups and downs this season, which is the case for many teams. Before winning five of their last seven, the Titans lost five times in a six-game stretch. It's safe to say that this year's edition of the Titans led by Ken Pearson can and has faced plenty of adversity throughout the campaign.
Another instance is having to play the remainder of their season without their captain. Cody Gudnason broke his leg during a game on February 18 against Winkler and he will miss the remainder of the season. A key cog on and off the ice, the 20-year-old from Killarney was a driving force with the team, recording 37 points in 45 games.
While he won't be able to help the team on the ice anymore, Pearson says Cody remains in good spirits and the four-year member of the organization means a lot to Neepawa.
"He's been part of our whole turnaround here in Neepawa and what we're trying to do on and off the ice," offered Pearson. "He was always great in the community, he loves helping out others. He has also done a great job in attracting other players to our team. He's also an excellent player, he will certainly be missed on the ice."
Season Changer:
The chances of winning a hockey game when down by two goals with less than three minutes left on the clock are slim to none. It's something that you will rarely see, especially at the junior level and above. That's the situation Neepawa was facing on February 23 when they were down 5-3 to Selkirk late in the contest.
Connor Thompson and Hayden Stocks then scored 19 seconds apart to tie it and in overtime, Stocks scored his third goal of the game as the Titans pulled off the improbable comeback against a Steelers team who are also battling for a playoff spot.
The win started a stretch that saw the Titans win four games in a row to put themselves in a very good spot.
"Definitely would have been a dagger if we didn't win that game," said Pearson. "You could see the guys after that game, how excited and pumped up they were. It looked like we weren't going to get any points, so to get two is huge for our group. We preach playing a full game, regardless of how long it is. We didn't give up and that was a great win for our group."
Home Stretch:
Following Tuesday's contest against the lowly Blues, the Titans will be in very tough the rest of the way with three games in three days this weekend which features games against Steinbach, Portage, and the Blizzard. With eight possible points remaining, the Titans will make their first trip back to the Turnbull Cup playoffs since 2017 with four points. This could come from two wins, four extra-time losses, or any combination in between.
Based on how loud the crowd was last Friday when Dauphin played the Titans at the Yellowhead Centre, there's a buzz in that community right now and rightfully so, Ken has the group playing some excellent hockey and this is set to be an exciting week as the Titans look to lock up fourth place.
With 523 fans in attendance for that game, it marked the second-highest attendance that the team had played in front of on their home ice this season.
