The Final Countdown

As the NCHL's regular season winds down this weekend, there are some important games that will decide the final standings in both divisions.  In the South, we have a 3-way tie for first place, one of those teams will claim the South Division championship as well as the President's Cup championship. In the North there are 3 teams vying for top spot and the North Division championship.  Let's start off by taking a look at what happened around the league last weekend. 

In a North Division showdown for first place, the Devon Barons headed up to Westlock where they dumped the hometown Warriors 8-2 behind veteran Cody Issler's 2-2-4 to leap over the Warriors into first place.  The game was tied at 2 halfway through the 2nd period when the Barons went on a run scoring 6 straight to turn the game into a route. Others scoring for the Barons were Joel Gage with two, Chris Van Os-Shaw 1-4-5, Trevor Bosch 1-3-4, and Aric Schinke with two.  Goaltender Mike Gudmanson won his fifth game of the season, turning away 30 of 33 shots.  Replying for Westlock were AJ Kupsch, Allen Borle and Mason Lyle. Keegan Richards took the loss. 

The other North Division game saw the Bonnyville Pontiacs in Morinville where they came back from a 5-2 first period deficit, scoring nine straight goals to upend the Kings 11-5. The teams started quickly as it was tied at 2 in the first 8 minutes before Morinville scored three times in the last 6 minutes to take a 5-2 lead into the first intermission. The second period was all Pontiacs as they scored 6 times in the last 11 minutes to take an 8-5 lead heading into the third. Pontiac's veteran Denis Cadrin 4-2-6 was the offensive star of the game and he had help from Cole Buchta 3-2-5, Mark Ouelette 2-2-4, Janson Pashniak 1-2-3, Scott Thackeray 1-1-2.  Keegan Pruden 0-4-4 and Kona Jackson 0-3-3 also had big contributions to the win. Goaltender Jordan Duffy picked up his first win for the Pontiacs.  Replying for the Kings were Troy Burant, Dylan Long, Cole Gupta 1-2-3, Dylan Maybroda and Joel Grant 1-1-2 while Wayne Gatza Jr chipped in with 0-3-3.  Goaltender Garrett Storms took the loss. 

Over in the South Division, the Lacombe Generals kept their President's Cup aspirations  alive by downing the visiting Red Deer Rustlers 4-2.  The Generals held period leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in a game they mostly controlled from the opening whistle. Veteran defenseman Blair Muller 1-1-2 had a strong game for the home side, with other goals coming from captain Cam Maclise, Tyrell Bourk and Thomas Beretta. Goaltender Mac Engel returned from his 3 game suspension to backstop his team to the win as he turned away 27 of 29 shots. For the Rustlers, veteran defenseman Cory Pritz 1-1-2 and Nick Bell were the only ones to get one past Engel. Brodan Salmond took the loss, his 3rd of the season. 

In Wetaskiwin, over 900 fans witnessed a rarity in hockey at any level - Camrose's Lane Lightning scored a beauty Michigan goal late in the 3rd period to tie the game, only to have the Longhorns score the winner with 1:19 remaining to edge the Bruins 4-3. There may be 10 points separating these teams, but all of the games have been close as Wetaskiwin took the season series 3-1.  Captain RJ Reed, who has had a quiet year relative to his career stats led the way offensively with 1-2-3. while rookie Jake Mykitiuk 2-2-4 and AP Quentin Greenwood also scored. Goaltender Devon Buffalo picked up his 5th win of the season for the Longhorns who ended up the night tied with the Lacombe Generals for first place.  The Bruin's Lightning had 2 goals with the other scored by James Davis.  Connor Dobberthein took the loss. 

Jake Mytikiuk (44) and Quentin Greenwood (55) celebrate RJ Reed's winning goal 

The last game of the weekend had Red Deer dump the visiting Wetaskiwin Longhorns 3-0 in a game played in Innisfail.  The Rustlers were full marks for their win as they scored twice in the second period and again with an empty netter, and goaltender Brodan Salmond was outstanding as he stopped all 37 shots the Longhorns sent his way. It was Salmond's first shut out and his league leading 8th win of the year. The Rustler's scoring came from defenseman Gabe Bast, Ryley Smith and Tim Vanstone 1-1-2. Tyler Berkholtz kicked in with 0-3-3.  For the Longhorns, goaltender Nick Schneider was outstanding himself as he stopped 50 shots (including 21 in the 3rd period when the Longhorns got into penalty trouble) to keep his team in the game.  

It all comes down to this weekend to determine the final standings and the playoff match-ups. 

On Friday, Devon hosts Morinville, and a win for the Barons would keep them in first place in the North Division.  A Devon loss coupled with a Westlock win would put the Warriors in first place. 

On Saturday, there are 3 games:

Red Deer can claim first place in the South Division as well as President's Cup championship with a win over the Bruins in Camrose. With the Rustler's win over Wetaskiwin, they now hold the tie breakers with both the Longhorns and Lacombe. The Rustlers own a 3-0 record against the Bruins this season, and it's sure to be a noisy Max McLean arena so don't count the Bruins out. A Red Deer loss will open the gates for either Lacombe or Wetaskiwin to overtake them for top spot. 

Wetaskiwin travels to Lacombe to take on the Generals.  The Longhorns currently hold a 2-1 regular season series lead over the Generals, who, with a win, would tie the series, but win the tie breaker on goals scored between the teams. A Longhorns win would put them into second place if Red Deer wins, or into 1st if the Rustlers lose. 

Bonnyville is in Westlock looking to get a road win and leapfrog the Warriors into 2nd place.  A Westlock win would secure 2nd place, and relegate the Pontiacs to 3rd place regardless of Sunday’s outcome.  With a win, the Pontiacs could move into a first place tie by defeating Morinville on Sunday. 

The final game of the regular season goes on Sunday as Morinville heads to Bonnyville, where the Pontiacs are a respectable 4-2-0-1 at home.  

Confused??  Stay tuned, this will all become clear later this weekend!