The year before that, Hardy and the Lakers were triumphant over the Spartans to claim the league championship, but coming up short last season still stings for the captain of the current Lakers squad.
“Every time we play Stephenville, we want to beat them every time,” said the 17-year-old centreman from Deer Lake, the son of Beverly and Peter.
They may get the chance yet again, depending on the results of the two best-of-five semifinal series that begin Monday when the second-seeded Corner Brook Regional High Titans host the third-place Spartans for Game 1 at the civic centre at 6 p.m. The top-ranked Lakers tangle with the last-place St. James Regional High Saints in the other series scheduled to begin Feb. 8.
Since the Lakers defeated the Titans 5-2 on Dec. 7 to leapfrog them for first place in the league standings, they have never looked back, ending the year with a 7-1-4 record as the class of the four-team setup. The Titans were 6-3-3, with the Spartans at 3-4-5 and Saints checking in at 0-8-4.
Lining up against a winless team in the first round of the playoffs could be seen by some as the next best thing to a bye for the Lakers, but Hardy cautions against that attitude. After all, the Saints and Lakers skated to a 2-2 draw in their most recent matchup on Jan. 4.
“You’ve always got to be ready to go before every game,” he said.
Hardy, a Grade 12 student at Elwood, is in his fourth season with the team. He said it’s been pretty much the same group of guys the whole way through, which lends itself to chemistry and camaraderie — two vital elements to any winning recipe.
The five-foot-nine, 155-pounder also plays midget house league in the Deer Lake Minor Hockey Association, but says that’s really just to get out for a fun skate. The high school hockey league is faster, he said, and more competitive. He prefers to play with more people in the stands and the pressure to perform for his school on his shoulders.
“In high school hockey, there’s a want to win every game,” he said.
Now, for he and his teammates, there’s just six more wins to go.
