Winslow, Gardiner renew rivalry

It's playoff hockey, and that means one thing: It's time for Winslow-Gardiner. Again.The rivals are set to square off Saturday night at 8 in Sukee Arena in an Eastern B semifinal game. Winslow defeated Gardiner 5-4 in overtime in the regional final last season. Top seed John Bapst (16-2-0) plays No. 4 Presque Isle (9-7-3) in the other semifinal. Gardiner swept the regular season series, including a 5-3 victory on Valentines Day in which they rallied from a 2-0 deficit after one period. Winslow won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game, although neither team took it too seriously. "They are a tough team," Winslow junior defenseman Charlie Kriegel said. Of course, so is Winslow (9-8-1), which is playing it best hockey of the season right now. So what should we expect Saturday? For starters, both teams will probably shorten their bench a bit. Gardiner and Winslow can skate three lines, but we'll see a healthy dose of the top two. Like all playoff games, goaltending will be factor. Gardiner (14-4-0) features senior Chris Howe while Winslow could go with either Ryan Cormier or Jesse Little. But this game will be won -- or lost -- with all the little things that don't show up in a box score, including faceoffs, loose puck battles and, most importantly, transition offense. Both teams can skate and will probably come out hard, which could leave open the possibility of some scoring chances in transition. "The first 10 minutes of the game can set the pace for the entire game," Winslow forward Todd Brow said. "Coming out flying will really help us out." Added Gardiner defenseman Forrest Chadwick: "We expect a very close game."