The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) Selects will face the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) Flames in their first playoff matchup, starting this weekend.
The Selects officially ended their season with a 26-10-0-0 record and 52 points, well engrained in second place in the KJHL’s standings - nine points behind first-place Peguis and eight points ahead of the third-place NCN Flames.
The top two teams in the KJHL standings receive byes through to the second round, while the third-place and sixth-place teams and the fourth and fifth teams face each other in the first round. As the lower-ranked of the two teams with byes, the Selects will play the highest-ranked finisher out of the first round.
NCN played the sixth-place Norway House North Stars in a best-of-three series and it ended quick, with the Flames winning 3-2 in Game 1 and getting a 6-5 overtime win in Game 2 to end Norway House’s season. That sets up the second-seed Selects facing the third-seed Flames.
That series will start with a pair of games this weekend, both at the Whitney Forum. The Selects will host the Flames March 15-16, with Game 3 taking place at Nelson House’s Gilbert McDonald Arena March 23. If a fourth game is needed, the Flames will host it March 24 - a final Game 5, if needed, would be played March 26 at the Whitney Forum.
The winner of that series will advance to the KJHL finals, a best-of-seven series. The fourth-place Cross Lake Islanders staved off a Game 1 loss to win both Games 2 and 3 against the fifth-place OCN Storm, setting up a best-of-five series between Cross Lake and Peguis for the other spot.
In six games this season, PBCN beat the Flames five times - while NCN took their first game against the Selects 1-0, the Selects went on to beat them 9-7, 9-3, 7-5, 7-2 and 2-1 in the next five matchups.
