JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Icemen are heading into game one of the Kelly Cup Playoffs against Greenville feeling confident and loose.
We stopped by practice Tuesday morning and head coach Nick Luukko told us his players are getting much-needed rest ahead of the game and his team should be the closest to 100 percent as they've been in the last four months.
These two teams are very familiar with each other.
The Icemen and Swamp Rabbits both play in the South division and faced each other 11 times during the regular season.
The Icemen went 6-5 against the Swamp Rabbits and expect a competitive first round series.
Coach Luukko called the Swamp Rabbits a big and heavy team that is built for the playoffs.
The key to winning this series will be the Icemen matching the Swamp Rabbits physicality.
"Being physical, getting our four check going. Breaking pucks out on our end so we can play some offense. They got a top line that's really, really productive so we're going to have to shut them down and do a good job of that," Luukko said.
"They've got a great first line. A lot of guys with a lot of points, so we just have to sort of work as a unit, look to shut them down. And special teams like power play and penalty kill especially in the playoffs are always big so if we can win that battle I think we're gonna like our chances and like the results a lot of the nights," defenseman Jacob Panetta said.
Game 1 and Game 2 will be played here in the River City.
Game 1 is Friday and the puck will drop at 7pm.
Game 2 is Sunday at 5pm.
Then, the series will shift to Greenville for Games 3, 4 and 5.
Games 5-7 are if necessary.