With one week to go in the SJHL season, the playoff picture is anything but clear.
The Flin Flon Bombers, Nipawin Hawks and Notre Dame Hounds each have three games left. Nipawin and Flin Flon both trail the Hounds by three points.
While catching the Hounds is not mathematically impossible yet, it’s looking more and more like the Bombers and Hawks will be fighting for the right to play the Notre Dame Hounds when the semi-final round begins.
Obviously the Bombers will be striving to finish as high in the standings as possible, and winning the last three games on their schedule would give them the best chance to catch the Hounds for fourth place.
They would still need a little bit of help from the teams Notre Dame will face over the final week: the Humboldt Broncos, Kindersley Klippers and Battlefords North Stars.
Whether the Bombers finish fourth or fifth, they will likely face the Hounds in the first round.
Should the Bombers finish sixth, they will face the winner of the Viterra Division. Right now, that is the Melville Millionaires, but the Estevan Bruins and Weyburn Red Wings are both within striking distance.
This weekend, Flin Flon has the opportunity to mathematically eliminate the La Ronge Ice Wolves from playoff contention.
Heading into this week’s action, the Ice Wolves are two points behind the Weyburn Red Wings with two games remaining. The Wings have one game in hand.
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Another thing to keep an eye on this week will be the goal-scoring race.
While Melfort’s Travis Mayan is walking away with the overall points competition with 79, the goal-scoring title is still up for grabs. Flin Flon’s Chris Rauckman holds the lead with 37 tallies, one more than Mayan.
In terms of points, Bombers Dean Allison (48) and Alex Smith (46) are within striking distance of 50 points on the year.
Austin Calladine and Parker Evans-Campbell are each three points away from the 40-point plateau.
Brett Boehm has been a story all on his own, with 26 points in just 20 games since rejoining the Bombers. Like Boehm, Joel Kocer (26) and Brandon Switzer (27) are just shy of the 30-point mark.
Flin Flon’s Michael Knaub is the league leader in penalty minutes with 165, nine more than Kindersley’s Owen LaClare.
Finally, an amateur video of the Flin Flon-Melville line brawl from two weeks ago has been viewed over 55,000 times on YouTube.
The two-minute clip has been featured on TSN’s Bardown Hockey and the CBC website.
