Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
The seasons are winding down for Prince Albert’s developmental hockey teams and while all will make the post-season in one form or another there are a couple that have positioned themselves for long playoff runs.
Following is a brief synopsis of what each team is facing and what they accomplished in the past week.
U13AA Family Pizza Foxes – Having been idle from league play last week the Foxes now find themselves one point back of the Saskatoon Comet Fury for first place although they do hold two games in hand. The Foxes will look to reclaim top spot when they host the Parkland Phoenix on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre. The regular season will conclude with a three-games-in-three-nights trip down south as they visit Weyburn, Lumsden and Regina on Feb. 20-22. Whoever finishes first in the regular season will earn a first-round bye while anything less than that gets them right into playoff mode with the opening round commencing Feb. 26.
U15AA Smitty’s Foxes – The Foxes had just one game last week and that didn’t go so well as they were defeated 7-1 in Warman on Saturday. Jordyn Henry had the lone goal for Prince Albert, which will likely finish sixth in the seven-team North Division standings and open the playoffs on Feb. 26 against whoever finishes in third spot. The Foxes have three games left on the regular schedule including a pair of dates in Saskatoon before finishing at home on Feb. 22 against the Western Prairie Thunder. That game will be played at 2:30 p.m. at the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre. If the playoffs were to start right now the Foxes would face the Saskatoon Comet Impact in the first round, but the middle of the pack is bottled up and lots can change in the final two weeks.
U18AA Family Pizza Foxes – It was a quick tour of the province for the Foxes last week as they were on the road for four games in five nights winning the first two before falling just short in the last pair. Nevaeh Bird-Clark, Kylie Huet and Maci Baillargeon provided the offence in the Foxes’ 3-2 win in Melfort on Wednesday over the Northeast Aces while Rylee Jensen, Steele Zablocki and Emmah Rindfliesch had the goals in a 3-1 victory in Kerrobert on Friday over the Western Prairie Thunder. Two goals 34 seconds apart late in the third period were the difference in a 4-2 setback to the Wildcats in Swift Current on Saturday and the Foxes couldn’t hold on to a slim lead they had early in the third period as they fell 3-2 to the Northwest Sharks in Meadow Lake on Sunday. Jensen and Abby McRae had the Prince Albert goals against Swift Current while it was Zablocki and Baillargeon hitting the back of the net in Meadow Lake. The Foxes have just three games left on the schedule including a home game against the Saskatoon Comet Legends on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Kinsmen Arena. The top two teams get a first-round bye, but for the Foxes it appears they will finish fourth and will face either the Aces or Thunder in the opening best-of-three round set to begin on March 2.
U13AA SFS Buckeyes – It was a quiet week for the Buckeyes, but they will get back into the swing of things this weekend when they take on the Northwest Stars in North Battleford on Saturday before heading to Macklin on Sunday for a date with the West Central Wheat Kings. It has been a struggle this season for the Buckeyes winning just four times. As a result they will be relegated to the consolation round of the playoffs, but not before they conclude the regular season with a pair of games on Feb. 26 and Feb. 28 against the Saskatoon Express and Saskatoon Kodiacs, respectively. Both matches will be played at the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre with the game against the Express set for a 7:30 p.m. start while the finale will be a matinee affair beginning at 2:15 p.m. The consolation round of the playoffs will start Mar. 2.
U15AA Venice House Pirates – A pair of weekend victories – 4-3 in overtime on Saturday over the Northwest Stars in Meadow Lake and 5-2 on Sunday over the Saskatoon Bandits – keeps the Pirates’ hopes of finishing first in the North Division standings a real possibility. With three games left on the schedule they will need to run the table and hope for some help to accomplish that goal, but the possibility is still there. Carter Krahn, Carter Kulczycki, Beckett Casavant and Lachlan Vandall, with the game winner, scored against the Stars on Saturday while Jordan Labelle paced the attack with three goals on Sunday. Also scoring against the Bandits were Krahn and Caleb Philp. The Pirates are back in Saskatoon on Tuesday, this time to face the Generals, before closing out the regular season at home with a pair of games against the Saskatoon Stallions and Saskatoon Outlaws on Feb. 22 and Feb. 28, respectively. Both games will be played at the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre with the match against the Stallions set to begin at 5:30 p.m. while the game against the Outlaws will have a 7:45 p.m. puck drop. The first round of the playoffs kicks off Mar. 2 and as it stands Prince Albert would draw the Outlaws to get things started.
U16AA R&W Collision Renegades – The Renegades have all but locked up first place in the North Division standings following an 8-7 overtime win over the Martensville Marauders last Wednesday and despite losing 5-2 to the Bridge City Blues on Sunday. Emmet Kihn led the way against Martensville scoring twice and setting up three others while Logan Schiedl, Finlay Cochrane, Jive Schultz, Nate Barrie, Josh Bonthoux and Robby Reed, with the overtime winner, also scored for the Renegades. Colson Duncan and Barrie were the lone goal scorers against the Blues. With seven games left on the regular schedule the Renegades hold a seven-point advantage on the next closest team in the standings and they also have games in hand on everyone. The Renegades open a home-and-home set with the Northwest Stars on Friday at the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre, game time is 8:15 p.m., with the return match on Saturday. Playoffs open on Mar. 2 with Prince Albert likely meeting Northwest in the best-of-three affair.
U18AA Lake Country Co-op Timberwolves – The Timberwolves are hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot by a thread, but they can do themselves a huge favor if they defeat the Parkland Elks on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. at the Kinsmen Arena. The Timberwolves, who had just one game last week when they dropped a 6-3 decision to the Saskatoon Riverkings, are three points up on the Elks and the Northwest Stars for the final spot and a win on Wednesday would lower their magic number to two – a combination of Timberwolves wins or Elks losses – to secure a spot in the post-season. Rooke Taylor, Ryan Ward and Carter Martin scored for the Timberwolves in the loss to the Riverkings, who broke out of a three-way tie for top spot with the win. After Wednesday’s game the Timberwolves will have just four left on the schedule with their final home game to be played on Feb. 23 at 8:15 p.m. against the Saskatoon Crunch at the Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre. First round of the playoffs are set to commence on Mar. 2
