The HJHL north best-of-seven final between the Cochrane Generals and Red Deer Vipers kicks off Thursday night at the Cochrane Arena.

The Vipers have proven to be the Gens toughest opponents in the regular season, and we should expect the same in this series.

The Vipers handed the Gens three of their eight losses in the regular season. Two of their games against the Vipers went into overtime, with both winning one. The only clearcut win by the Gens was a 7-2 decision on Oct. 16,

Patrick Forde and Tristan Ripplinger were the top scorers in the HJHL during the regular season. You have to drop down to 19th on the list to see Red Deer's top scorer, Eric Melynk.

Staying clear of the penalty box will be key for both teams. During the regular season, the Gens were number one on the powerplay, scoring one in every four opportunities. The Vipers weren't far behind, holding down the number three spot, scoring one in five.

In playoffs, the Gens have a 27.5 per cent success rate on their powerplay, compared to the Vipers' 16.13 per cent.

On the penalty kill, the Vipers are slightly better than the Gens at 85.82 per cent, good enough for sixth in the league. The Gens are ranked eighth at 83.07 per cent.

Between the pipes, Viper Bretton Park has had a 1.62 goals-against average in the playoffs, compared to Gen Davyn LaRocke's 1.98.

Gens head coach Kurtis Jones says the two teams are closely matched but he has confidence the Gens can win the series if the team plays smart,

"They're very similar to our team, and they're well-coached," says Jones of the Vipers. "We've got to keep that momentum going from games six and seven. If we play that way, we should be good to go."

The puck drops at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Game two goes in Red Deer on Saturday night, then returns to the Cochrane Arena for a 5:30 p.m. Sunday game.