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Craig — It's almost time to lace 'em up.

The Craig Puck Ewes women's hockey team concluded its regular season schedule last weekend on a positive note, and only time separates the team from attempting to win its third league title in four years.

"We're ready to get after it," coach Jerry Strahan said. "But, we have to wait two more weeks. I just hope we can keep our momentum."

The Ewes ended the season on a three-game win streak on their way to clinching the No. 2 seed when the postseason begins April 3 in Eagle.

"I'm a little surprised we ended up that high, but we finished up pretty good so that helped a lot," Strahan said. "We went a little bit flat in the middle of the season, and it seemed like we were running out of gas. But, I'm glad we picked it back up."

The Ewes entered the 2008 postseason with a target on their backs. But, a first-round loss to eventual league champion Aspen took some of the pressure off, and Strahan said this year's team enters the postseason with a different mindset than a year ago.

"I think it takes more pressure off us than anything," he said about not entering the playoffs as the defending champion. "Last year, we went down there, and we were awfully tight, and we got knocked out by Aspen on a very late goal."

And with less pressure comes less expectations.

This year "there is definitely not as high expectations as there were the last couple of years," Strahan said. "We are going to go down and have some fun and just enjoy ourselves now, as opposed to last year when we went in there tight and everybody was just really wound up thinking, 'We gotta win; we gotta win.' That's not a good way to play hockey.

"I think everybody is a lot more relaxed about the tournament now."

So relaxed that the coach isn't worried about who his team will face when playoff seeding is announced in the near future.

"To be honest, I don't know," Strahan said when asked whom he preferred to play in the first round. "It seems like every year (the seeding and format) is different. I haven't ever really figured it out. We just show up to play."

Until he knows, he said its practice as usual - even though most of his team is on vacation, ice time is limited and the playoffs are more than two weeks away.

"Of course, now that it's spring break, it's going to be tough," Strahan said about getting the team together. "I know a lot of the moms are out of town, but that's when we're scheduled. We're actually looking for anybody that wants to come out, any of the younger girls, and get a little scrimmage time with us.

"We have to do whatever we can to stay in shape and be ready when the puck drops."

Despite vacations, work and prior engagements members of the Ewes may have, Strahan said when the puck drops April 4, the team of moms, daughters and wives turns into a passionate group of hockey players.

"We're excited to get out there and play," Strahan said. "I think we're ready to go wrap it up."

Notes:

Craig outscored the opposition, 18-1, in its final three games. : Ewe's forward Jamie Eckroth sits atop the league in scoring with 24 total points (15 goals and nine assists), while Lani Cleverly (11 goals, 5 assists) is seventh with 17 points. : Goalie Kandice Torno leads the league in goals against per game average (1.41) and save percentage (.926) and is second in the league in wins (9). : The league ruled Alexa Criswell ineligible for postseason play because she isn't 18 years of age or older. : Fatty's Fury, trailing the Ewes' by two points in the standings, has one game left in the regular season. Craig holds the first tiebreaker - head-to-head record - having swept the two-game set this season (8-1 and 3-1).