As the Syracuse Crunch arrived in Newfoundland to play game three of their opening round playoff series on Wednesday night, many of them were looking around and trying to get a feel for what might be hostile territory. Crunch center Riley Holzapfel, however, will almost feel right at home, having been traded from the Icecaps earlier this season. Never would he have imagined a scenario where he'd be returning to St. John's to face his former team in a playoff atmosphere.
"Obviously when I got traded here I was excited for a new start," recalls Holzapfel, "and at the time Syracuse and the guys here weren't doing too well and we were kind of at the bottom of the league. But my goal coming here was to try and help the guys and do as much as I could to get us in the playoffs, and we've a achieved that goal as a team, we've been playing well lately and we're excited."
The Crunch enter game three with the series tied at one, but with the remaining games in the best of five series to be played at the Mile One Centre in St. John's. While Holzapfel already has a couple playoff games under his belt against the team that traded him, he says the feeling will be very different as he heads into his former home rink.
"I'm sure I'll be a little nervous and excited to get out there," admits Holzapfel, "any guy who gets traded from a team, you obviously want to be on top of your game and play your best and kind of leave a good impression against them. I know I'll be ready tomorrow night and the whole series."
The puck drops on game three on Wednesday night at 6 PM eastern time. Game four is slated for Friday, and game five, if necessary, on Saturday.
