By Drew McMillin

The Ironheads (10-9-1, 6th Eastern Conference) kick off the post season at 8 p.m. Friday night in Montreal against the third-seeded Kahnawake Hunters (14-6-0, 3rd Eastern Conference). The teams will play a grueling three games in under 48 hours with Game 2 going Saturday at 4 p.m. and Game 3 at 1 p.m. on Sunday, all at the Kahnawake Sports Complex. Then if necessary, the series will turn back to Ajax for Games 4 and 5 next Thursday and Friday.

Both teams come into the series hot, with West Durham having won four of their last five and Kahnawake taking six of seven to wind up their regular season. But all that means nothing now as a new season begins.

Aided by an energetic home crowd and the long ride for almost all its opponents, the Hunters owned a 7-3 record in their own barn this season. It’s that decisive home-floor that the Ironheads will hope to take away early in game one.

“It’s going to be loud and it’s going to be intense,” said defenseman Spencer Andrews. “I’ve been there before, a lot of these guys have. It’s different than being in a home barn, especially there.”

“It’s a little intimidating at times,” added Captain Branden Hunt, “but if we can play through that early, we’ll be good.”

The year’s only meeting between the two teams took place back on May 28th, when the Hunters needed overtime to leave Ajax with a 9-7 decision. This young Ironheads team has come a long way since that loss, part of a 1-5 home stand that saw their playoff chances diminish significantly.

“I think all the guys have really come together and have each other’s backs.” Said assistant coach Josh Colley. “They’re confident and playing more of a team system. We’ve been working on building more of a family atmosphere rather than a team.”

Kahnawake possesses a powerful offense led by fifth year forward Cam Horn, who finished second in the OJBLL with 53 goals on the season.

“He’s a real good player,” said Andrews. “We talked about what we need to key on defensively. Shutting them down, getting the hands up and playing good five on five ball. Not trying to get into the box and give them the upper hand.”

Colley’s confident that the I-Heads have what it takes to shut the Hunters’ attack down. “We’ve got a lot of shutdown guys,” he said. “Most teams have one or two. We have four or five.”

Despite the seeding, if May’s meeting is any indication, the series should be a close matchup and will likely be decided by intangibles.

“It all comes down to the mental game, said Hunt. “Whoever’s got it there between the ears will probably have the upper hand.”

We’ll find out who that is at 8:00 p.m. Friday night at the Kahnawake Sports Complex.