The grind of a 76-game season is a lot, even for a professional hockey player. Factor in a COVID-19 pause in December, and the grind becomes even more intense.

“Fifty-four games in 112 days, so with travel and everything, it’s pretty much every day,” Crunch forward Gabriel Dumont said.

But the grind is all worth it this time of the season. With less than a month to play, the standings are as tight as they ever been in the North Division. Just about every team is within a game or two of each other.

“It’s kind if crazy to think we’ve played 60 games so far, and everything is going to be decided in the last 15,” Dumont said.

But this is how the Crunch want it. They’re a team that controls their own destiny, the mantle of responsibility sitting solely on their shoulders.

“We don’t have to rely on anyone else to win games for us and beat other teams," Dumont said. "If we do our job and put wins together and play good games — we’re playing against guys in our division — we’ll make playoffs.”

The guys seem to be enjoying the pressure, but they know just what needs to be done.

“Every night, we need 20 guys," Dumont said. "Every night, we cannot have any passengers on the plane, you know?”

“We all know what to do," head coach Benoit Groulx said. "We all know our system. We know how the other teams will do. When our team competes, we’re giving ourselves a chance. We’re a very, very good team.”

That has been evident the last few games. The Crunch seem to have found their footing, and with more than half of their remaining games at home, they’re ready to put on a show for the hometown crowd.

“We’re not going to make it easy for anyone," Dumont said. "We’re going out there and our only mindset is to make the playoffs. If we can separate ourselves from the rest of the pack as soon as possible, that would be great. We take no games lightly, and put in 100 percent every night.”

The playoffs are essentially underway, and don’t be shocked if it comes down to the final game of the regular season to see where the Crunch end up.

“We’ll find out the last weekend, so I think it’ll be tight all the way,” Groulx says.