The similarities are spooky for Salmonbellies general manager Dan Richardson. He just hopes the end result is the same.

In 1980, when he played for the storied New Westminster lacrosse franchise, the ’Bellies were beaten in four games in the best-of-seven Mann Cup final by the Brampton Excelsiors in the Ontario city. In 1981, although he was injured, the Excelsiors came west and were swept by the Salmonbellies at Queen’s Park Arena.

Asked if the situations are similar, Richardson emphatically replied, “Absolutely.”

“We got our asses handed to us in 1980 and in ’81 we returned the favour and I don’t see any reason our club couldn’t do the same thing.”

The Mann Cup begins tomorrow (Friday) at Queen’s Park Arena with games to follow on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and if necessary, Wednesday and next Friday and Saturday.

“I don’t think this is going to be a sweep on either side,” said Richardson. “This is going to be a long, hard-fought series, and the longer it goes the bigger the crowds are going to be.”

Recently, Richardson has been asked if the team preferred to play Peterborough, which lost the Ontario final in six games to the Excelsiors. No way, he said.

“You’ve got to play a well-disciplined game against those guys and your goaltending has got to be at its best. I like our defence and our goaltending (Matt Roik and Tyler4 Richards), and the fact we’re going to be playing on a faster surface at Queen’s Park versus the carpet back east,” said Richardson. “It’s also a smaller, more confined floor space. All those things add up. I just think we’re going to put on a much better showing than we did back east.”

“We’ve had our Mann Cup taste. We had that feeling from last year that nobody liked being swept in four games, so it’s a natural progression to come home and play a good solid series. If we do what we need to do, we should be able to win.”

And if that’s the case, Richardson will be able to hoist the cup for the first time since 1981.

“It’s been a long wait since then to actually pick up a Mann Cup, with any luck I should be able to do that this year.”

ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com