Goalie Jared Herle of the Wilkie Outlaws kicks aside a shot during his team’s 4-2 win over the Kindersley Sr. Klippers on Jan. 26 in Kindersley. The win moved Wilkie into first in the standings.
Crossroads Staff
The playoffs are just on the horizon for senior hockey leagues in the region. The final games of the regular season will be played this weekend.
SWHL
The Wilkie Outlaws have climbed their way back to the top of the standings and only the Kindersley Sr. Klippers have a slim chance to retake first place.
Kindersley was in first before games last weekend, but that changed after losses to the Outlaws and Macklin Mohawks. The Mohawks beat the Sr. Klippers 3-2 on Jan. 25 in Kindersley and the Outlaws won 4-2 on Jan. 26, also in Kindersley.
Wilkie and Kindersley will finish the regular season in the top two spots, but the order could change if the Sr. Klippers are able to beat the Outlaws tonight and the Biggar Nationals manage to beat the Outlaws tomorrow in Wilkie. Kindersley will hold the tiebreaker against Wilkie with a win tonight.
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The Outlaws (15-1-2) have a one-point lead in the standings with 32 points. The Sr. Klippers (15-3-1) have 31 points and if they beat Wilkie tonight, they could end up in first if the Nationals win tomorrow in either regulation or overtime thanks to the tiebreaker.
As for the rest of the standings, the Macklin Mohawks (10-6-3) have moved into third with 23 points and the Nationals (9-8-1) are in fourth with 19 points. Depending on the tiebreaker scenario, Biggar could end up in a tie with Macklin. The Unity Miners (6-12) will finish the regular season in fifth and the Luseland Mallards (0-18) will finish last.
The top two seeds get a bye in the league quarterfinals and the third to sixth seeds will match up to see which teams move on to play Wilkie and Kindersley. The Outlaws are looking to win a fifth consecutive Sask West Hockey League championship.
In action on Jan. 25, the Nationals beat the Mallards 13-8 in Luseland, Macklin beat Kindersley and the Outlaws roasted the Unity Miners by a score of 10-1 in Unity. On Jan. 26, Wilkie beat Kindersley, the Mohawks beat the Mallards 7-1 in Macklin and the Nationals beat the Miners 7-4 at home in Biggar.
There are five games left to be played this weekend. Luseland is in Biggar, Macklin is in Unity and Wilkie is in Kindersley for games tonight at 8:30 p.m., and Unity is in Luseland and Biggar is in Wilkie for games tomorrow at 8 p.m.
SVHL
Three teams have finished their regular season schedule in the Sask Valley Hockey League. The final games this weekend could lead to movement in the standings.
The Kyle Elks (17-1) have locked up first and the Delisle Bruins (15-3) have locked up second in the SVHL standings after their final games last weekend. The Eston Ramblers (10-6) are likely to finish in third up two points over the fourth place Outlook Ice Hawks (9-8).
Eston has a game in hand over Outlook, and the final two games for the Ramblers are against the winless Elrose Aces (0-15). Elrose was scheduled to play Wednesday night in addition to the games against Eston tonight and tomorrow.
Only four points separates teams in third to seventh place. Eston has 20 points, Outlook has 18 points and three teams are tied with 16 points, so there is still plenty left to decide with respect to playoff positions. The Beechy Bombers (8-9), Lucky Lake Lakers (8-8) and Kenaston Blizzards (8-10) are tied for fifth.
The Central Butte Flyers (5-10-0-1) hold the final playoff spot in eighth. The Flyers are only two points up on the Loreburn 19ers (4-12-0-1), but Loreburn only has one game remaining and the Flyers own the tiebreaker to guarantee Central Butte a playoff spot.
In games on Jan. 25, the Bruins beat the Ramblers 7-5 in Delisle, the Blizzards beat the Aces 9-5 in Kenaston and the Elks beat the Ice Hawks 11-2 in Outlook. On Jan. 26, the Elks beat the 19ers 12-3 in Kyle, the Lakers beat the Blizzards 4-3 in Lucky Lake and the Bruins beat the Flyers 7-3 in Central Butte. On Jan. 27, the Ice Hawks beat the Bombers 7-3 in Outlook.
The result of Wednesday’s game between Elrose and Central Butte were not available in time for publication. Eston is in Elrose, Luckey Lake is in Beechy and Outlook is in Loreburn for games tonight at 8 p.m. For tomorrow, Lucky Lake plays in Central Butte at 7 p.m. and Elrose plays in
Eston at 8 p.m.
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