The Austin Bruins will be ready for some real competition when they begin the NAHL Central Division semifinals Friday and Saturday at Minot.

The No. 3 seeded Bruins won three out of four regular season games at No. 2 seeded Minot this season and they’re hoping that experience can give their team some confidence headed into the best of five series. The teams split the regular season series 4-4.

Austin head coach Kyle Grabowski said that the last four games of the season gave his squad a look at what a playoff atmosphere looks like as the Bruins knocked Aberdeen out of the playoffs last weekend and they played Minot two weeks ago.

“It gave them a little bit of a taste of what desperate hockey feels like,” Grabowski said. “We’ve got some guys who have been there before. You lean on your best players to do their job and everyone else follows their lead.”

Austin defenseman Paul OConnor has played in 113 career games in the NAHL, Luke Forfar has 90 career games in the league and Jade Miller, who has 51 points this season, has played 107 career NAHL games.

Grabowski is expecting a solid effort out of the Minotauros, who have a lot of experience on the defensive side of the puck.

“They certainly work hard,” Grabowski said. “They have a veteran presence on defense and their top six forwards can score. You don’t want to get in a shootout with them.”

Games one and two will begin at 7:35 p.m., games three and four (if necessary) will be in Austin 7:05 p.m. April 22 and April 23 and game five (if necessary) would be in Minot 7:05 p.m. April 25.