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The Gold Coast Jokers have spent up big over the last couple of weeks in an attemp to strengthen up their back end. This should come as no suprise as coach Jean Schroeder has been very outspoken in that he believes defense will be the difference in this years playoffs.
We were lucky enough to catch up with coach Schroeder after last nights game one playoff win and he had nothing but praise or his newly acquired defenseive core and also shed a little light on why he thinks his team can take out the title this year. "i was really happy with the boys and they executed the game plan well. We wanted to be patient and solid defensively which we were and it payed off forcing Padasjoen Laamat into taking penalties and we were able to score 2 goals with the extra man to take a 2-1 win." It wasnt all praise from Schroeder though, he expressed dissapointment with his teams difficulty in generating scoring oportunities."Being strong defensively doesnt mean that you have to stop trying to score goals and being out shot 33-16 is not good enough. We will definatley need to shoot the puck a lot more in monday nights game if we want to repeat the result from tonight."
One of the real standouts in last nights game and over the past few weeks since joining the Jokers was Hungarian Goalie Sándor Hóka. He was signed late in the season to give starting goalie Oskar Ihnačák some rest as he was playing every game due to a lack of a suitable back up and the management were scared he would burn out before the playoffs. Since joining the team Hóka has taken over the top job winning his last 5 games of the season and recording 1 shutout from his 6 starts. He posted some impressive numbers last night saving 32 of 33 shots for a save percentage of 96.97% and surviving 5 times shorthanded which earnt him a second star award for the game only coming in second to team captain Oliver Denny who scored both the Jokers powerplay goals on the night.
The other man that deserves a mention is the newly aquired native of the Ukraine, defensemen Volodymyr Egorev who was signed with just one game left in the regular season to prove himself coming into the playoffs. "Voldy is a big boy who is a phenominal skater and moves the puck very well out of his own end. I wasnt suprised at all how he performed for us in the last game of the season and it was more a matter of where to put him in the line up rather than whether or not he would dress in the playoffs. We are lucky to have him and im sure every team still in the race would welcome a stay home d-man of Voldy's calibre." said Schroeder when asked about Egorev. It seems that they quickly found his spot in the line up too, pairing him with team leading scorer and league All-Star Ben Bysäth. The 2 combined for 1 goal and 4 assists in their first game together as well as finishing the game with a +4 rating.
When you take a close look at the Jokers roster you see that as well as the having a hot goalie and arguably the best top defensive pairing out of any team in the league they also host a deep roster of talented defensemen and defensive forwards as well as some of the best snipers in the league. "We as a unit feel that we have enough firepower in our roster that if we stick to coaches game plan and handle business in our own end first, we should have a successful post season this year." said team captain Oliver Denny at a post game press conference last night.
One thing is for certain and that is that if Coach Schroeder is correct in saying "defense wins championships" then the Jokers have sure set themselves up in the best positionthey could to pick up their first ever league championship.
Be sure to head down to the Miller Dome as they look to take a first round win against Padasjoen Laamat on Monday night.

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