IHL Title on Line for Ice Dogs, Vipers

After easily advancing through the first three rounds of the playoffs, the Long Beach Ice Dogs will take on the role as underdog when they face the Detroit Vipers in the Turner Cup championship series of the International Hockey League.

The best-of-seven series between the top two teams of the IHL will begin Friday at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., with Game 2 there on Sunday. The Ice Dogs will host Game 3 in Long Beach after an eight-day layoff because of previously scheduled events at the Long Beach Arena.

“[Having a week off] will not be a problem because we’re used to it at this stage of the playoffs,” Ice Dog Coach John Van Boxmeer said. “We had a week off between games two and three in our first-round series. We then had a week off before starting our second-round series with Utah and another week off before we played Houston in the third round.”

The Ice Dogs, 11-1 in the playoffs, will not have home-ice advantage against the Vipers because Detroit had the best regular-season record in the IHL with 122 points. Long Beach had the second-best mark at 119.

During the regular season, the Ice Dogs defeated the Vipers, 5-3, in their only meeting.

“This will be a series between two teams that match up very well,” said Van Boxmeer, the IHL Coach of the Year. “It’s going to be an exciting matchup between the two best teams in the league.”

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Turner Cup

Detroit vs. Long Beach

Friday: at Detroit, 4 p.m.

Sunday: at Detroit, 4 p.m.

June 9: at Long Beach, 7 p.m.

June 11: at Long Beach, 7 p.m.

June 13: at Long Beach, 7 p.m.-x

June 15: at Detroit, 4 p.m.-x

June 17: at Detroit, 4 p.m.-x

x-If necessary

All times Pacific