The Kingston Frontenacs gear up for playoff run with series against North Bay

The road to the J.Ross Roberston Cup begins on Friday for the Kingston Frontenacs.

The Ontario Hockey League playoffs get underway at the Rogers K-Rock Centre as the black and gold host the North Bay Battalion in a best of seven affair.

They may be favoured but Kingston coach Jay Varady doesn’t see it that way. “We don’t talk about that at all.”

“The series is zero-zero and our focus is trying to get that first win. North Bay is a hard-working team,” Varady said. “They’re going to challenge us in all three zones in terms of their effort and energy. They’ve got some guys that can put the puck in the net and they have a really good defensive corps that keeps the puck out.”

Kingston’s first-year bench boss from Cahokia, Ill., says his focus is squarely on preparing for game one.

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“It’s about playing the right way. We’ve talked about our identity all year and we try to get as close to that as we possibly can every time we step on the ice for practice or in games.”

The Frontenacs and Battalion met four times this season with Kingston holding the edge, winning three of those four matches.

They finished eleven points ahead of Stan Butler’s club in the Eastern Conference regular season standings. “We need to prove that we’re a better team,” Varady said.

“The puck is going to drop on Friday at 7 p.m. and we’re going to have to go out and outwork our opponents. It’s as simple as that. If we can do that, we should get a positive result.”

The Frontenacs made some major moves at the trade deadline in hopes of doing well in the post-season. They acquired Gabe Vilardi and Sean Day from the Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires. They also picked up snipers Cliff Pu and Max Jones from the London Knights.

Game two in the series will be played in Kingston on Sunday at 6 p.m.

The series will resume March 27 in Sudbury. The teams have been forced to move the game because the ice won’t be ready in North Bay. The city’s Memorial Gardens is hosting the world women’s curling championships.

The curling championships end on Sunday but it takes two days to change the ice surface to hockey from curling.

Game four will be played in North Bay on March 29.