The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Sherwood Conference Top three finishers for round robin playoff: Estevan (41 gp, 26-10-5-0, 57 pts) Notre Dame (38 gp, 22-12-4-0, 48 pts) Humboldt (37 gp, 20-15-0-2, 42 pts) Despite three straight losses, the Bruins are in the driver's seat for first place and home ice advantage in the Sherwood Conference semi-finals.ÊNine of their fourteen games remaining are on home ice.ÊTwelve of those fourteen are against Sherwood Conference teams. They play Yorkton four more times (two at home and two on the road) The Hounds have a tough schedule with just seven of seventeen games remaining on home ice.ÊThey've already played two of the five games scheduled with Weyburn in the second half. They play Estevan, Humboldt, and Yorkton twice more each.Ê They'll need to sweep the two games with the Bruins and then hope for help if they want to finish first. The Broncos aren't so much looking at the two teams in front of them as they are the team directly behind them. A fourth place finish means a best of seven first round as opposed to the round robin scenario which enables the winner to choose its Sherwood Conference semi-final opponent.ÊThe Broncos leads Yorkton by two points; but the Terriers have four games in hand. Humboldt will meet Yorkton four more times in what will be the deciding factor for who gets the third spot.ÊThe Broncos also have an uphill battle in that eleven of their eighteen games left are on the road. 4 vs. 5 elimination best of seven series Yorkton (33 gp, 18-11-3-1, 40 pts) Melville (38 gp, 13-20-4-1, 31 pts) Last year, the superior Millionaires wanted to avoid the Terriers in the playoffs.ÊThis year, the opposite may be true as home ice has really been a huge advantage in the head-to-head meetings so far. Yorkton, of course, is looking at a spot in the top three and for good reason. They have 22-games remaining on the schedule and twelve will be played at home.ÊThis week will be a huge test with Esteven, Kindersley, and Battlefords coming in over a span of five nights.ÊNevertheless, the four head to head games with Humboldt and Melville will likely determine whether or not the Terriers are in the top three or wind up fourth. The Mils are generally considered to be long shots to even make the playoffs; but they occupy the final spot as of January 11th. As outlined above, winning three of four against Yorkton down the stretch could go a long way to securing their postseason berth. Working against them are two road games in Estevan and two in Weyburn. The Wings visit Melville Stadium once more this season. Out of the playoffs Weyburn (40 gp, 12-22-4-2, 30 pts) The Red Wings have an uphill battle to establish themselves as bonafide threats down the stretch.ÊBut, they do have a favorable schedule with nine of fifteen games remaining on home ice.ÊThey also have three head-to-head games with Melville and a sweep would almost guarantee a playoff berth. Thirteen of their fifteen games left come against Sherwood Conference teams.ÊWhile that could be viewed as a tremendous opportunity, it should be noted that Humboldt, Estevan, Notre Dame, and Yorkton all took steps to immediately improve their teams for this season. ITECH Conference Top three finishers for round robin playoff Kindersley (41 gp, 25-12-2-2, 54 pts) Battlefords (39 gp, 39-18-10-8-3, 47 pts) Nipawin (38 gp, 18-12-4-4, 44 pts) The Klippers are back having won their last four games and picked up some needed physical presence at the deadline.ÊFriday's road game in Yorkton is the only non-divisional game left on the schedule; although eight of their final fourteen come on the road.ÊThey still play La Ronge five more times (twice at home and three on the road). Seeing as how the Flin Flon Bombers have had a miserable season, the Klippers have already clinched a playoff spot. The hottest team in the league are the Battlefords North Stars, who have lost only two regulation time games in their last twenty-seven (16-2-7-2). Surely, they are looking towards the one home game and two road dates left on the schedule against Kindersley. A sweep makes them a real threat for first. They also play two more home games and two more road games against Nipawin.ÊIt's the ultimate schedule for 'controlling your own destiny'. The Hawks have seventeen games remaining and will play nine of them at home. The tightness of the 2-3-4 spots in the division make just about every game important.ÊCuriously, only six of their seventeen games will be played against one of the Ice Wolves, Stars, or Klippers. They also have five games remaining against teams under .500 (Melfort once, Weyburn twice, Flin Flon twice). 4 vs. 5 elimination best of seven series La Ronge (39 gp, 19-15-3-2, 43 pts) Melfort (41 gp, 14-22-2-3, 33 pts) The Ice Wolves are going to either throw a huge monkey wrench into the plans of the Stars or Klippers, or else go into a bit of a fade.ÊIt is a huge opportunity.ÊWith sixteen games remaining, ten will come against either Battlefords or Kindersley. Of those sixteen,eleven are on home ice.ÊThey also play Flin Flon three times and have a late season home game against the Hawks.ÊWe should get a clear picture of what direction the Ice Wolves are going to take relatively soon. Three of their next five home games come against Kindersley.ÊÊ The Mustangs have not played well since Christmas (1-win in 5-games).ÊEight of their fourteen games will be played on the road.ÊNevertheless, they host Flin Flon three times and go to the Whitney Forum twice more. Although they are not in their conference, the Mustangs would likely relish in spoiling things for their rival Humboldt Broncos. Humboldt comes to The Palace twice and Melfort returns the favor once more.ÊThe Mustangs are far enough ahead of Flin Flon to not be concerned about missing the playoffs, but are also too far back of fourth to make that race interesting. Out of the playoffs Flin Flon (39 gp, 5-27-5-2, 17 pts) Mathematically, they are still alive for a playoff spot. The maximum number of points they can accumulate is 49. Even if they play .500 hockey the rest of the way that would give them 33-points, which is where the Melfort Mustangs currently sit. They host the Mustangs twice more and play them three more times on the road.
