What have the Whalers been doing to prepare for the playoffs, you ask? Well, we put in a lot of time at the facilities throughout this season to consistently get better with each and every day. The coaching staff made it clear from the onset that the team we were on day one would be nowhere near good enough to win the championship and that in order to win it all there would need to be consistent improvement until the end of the season. We spent countless hours on the practice rink, in the weight room, and watching film in order to narrow in on our collective identity that would get us over the edge when it matters most. You see some of these other teams who were considered favorites getting knocked out prematurely and begin to wonder if they had the right mindset or on-ice leadership to motivate their players past the complacency, and I think that is something we have in spades here in Vancouver.