Season ends and Playoffs begin….The Lumsden Monarchs defeated the Avonlea Arrows last Tuesday evening 6-1 and the Strasbourg Maroons defeated the Raymore Rockets 3-1 on Wednesday evening to end the regular season . Lumsden secured second place with a 12-5-1 record and will play the Wynyard Monarchs in a first round best of three series; Strasbourg finished third place with a 10-5-3 record and will play the Avonlea Arrows in their first round series and the Raymore Rockets finished 11-6-1 in fourth place and will play the Cupar Canucks in their first round series. The Bethune Bulldogs finished the season undefeated and in first place and have a bye into the semi-finals.

On Tuesday evening in Lumsden, there was no scoring in the first period. In the second period Mason Haus, Kyle Johnson and Liam Brennan with a power play goal scored to put the Monarchs up 3-0 after two periods. In the third period Austin Preete, Torey Lindsay and Mason Haus with his second goal of the game but this time on the power play scored for Lumsden. James Dombowsky scored for the Arrows on the power play. Matt Weninger stopped 24 shots in the Monarch’s net to secure the win. Dean Brothen stopped 45 shots in the Avonlea net. Avonlea had seven minor penalties and Lumsden had five. In Raymore on Wednesday evening, Tyson Orban scored in the first period to give the Maroons a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. There was no scoring in the second period. In the third period, the Rockets tied the game early with a power play goal from Cole Melrose. Halfway through the third period Greg Ferguson scored what would be the winning goal. Dylan Marcott scored an empty net goal and the final was 3-1 for the Maroons. Jeremy Ellis stopped 35 shots in the Maroon’s net and picked up the win. Riley Focht-Gabriel stopped 40 shots in the Rocket’s net. The Maroons had five minor penalties and the Rockets had four.

Early Provincial wins for Rockets and Bulldogs….Ferguson/Cross/Orban Show in Strasbourg...Playoffs are close...The Raymore Rockets defeated the Central Butte 4-3 last Wednesday evening in Raymore and then defeated the Flyers 4-2 this past Sunday in Central Butte and won their first round two game total point series 8-5. The Rockets now go on to the second round of Provincial ‘C’ against the Drake Canucks of the Long Lake Hockey League.Game one is Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in Drake. The Bethune Bulldogs played their first game of their best of three series against the Davidson Cyclones of the Long Lake Hockey League this past Saturday evening in Bethune. Most of the scoring happened in the first period as the Cyclones had a 4-2 lead after the first period and led on the shot clock 14-13. Bethune got goals from Mitch Boucher and Joel Kot. In the second period the Bulldogs outshot the Cyclones 22-6 and got a shorthanded goal from Kyle Ross and a goal from Drew George with 38 seconds left in the period to make it 4-4 going into the third period. Bethune would outshoot the Cyclones 12-6 in the third period. This game went into a ten minute overtime period and then into a twenty minute second overtime period. With one minute left in the second overtime period drew George would notch his second goal of the game with one minute left and the Bulldogs would win 5-4. The Bulldogs outshot the Cyclones 70-40 during 89 minutes of play. These two teams go at it in game two in Davidson on Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m.

This Friday evening the Avonlea Arrows will open up their best of three series against the Balgonie Bisons of the QVHL at 8:30 p.m. in Balgonie. On Saturday two more series begin. In Provincial ‘A’ the Lumsden Monarchs will be in Leroy to play the Braves in game one of their best of three Provincial ‘A’ series at 3:00 p.m. On Saturday evening in Cupar, the Canucks will host the Bredenbury Cougars of the Triangle Hockey League in game one of their two game total point Provincial ‘D’ series at 7:30 p.m.

Provincials begin this week…The Raymore Rockets will host the Central Butte Flyers on Wednesday. This is a two game total point series in Provincial ‘C’. Game two of this series will be on Sunday in Central Butte at 3:00 p.m. The winner of this series will play the Drake Canucks of the Long Lake Hockey League. The Bethune Bulldogs play this Saturday evening in game one of a best of three series against the Davidson Cyclones in Bethune at 8:00 p.m.. The winner of this series plays the winner of the Milestone Flyers (QVHL) and the Bienfait Coalers (Big Six HL) in February. The Avonlea Arrows will be in Balgonie on Friday, February 3rd to play the Balgonie Bisons (QVHL) in Provincial ‘A’ action. Game two of this best of three series is in Avonlea on Saturday, February 11th. The Lumsden Monarchs begin their Provincial ‘A’ series in Leroy against the Braves (LLHL) on Saturday, February 4th at 3:00 p.m. Game two of this series will be in Lumsden on Saturday, February 11th at 7:00 p.m. The winner of this series plays the winner of the Avonlea/Balgonie series. The Cupar Canucks begin their Provincial ‘D’ two game total point series on Saturday, February 4th in Cupar against the Bredenbury Cougars (Triangle Hockey League). Game two of this series is Saturday,February 11th. The Wynyard Monarchs are in Provincial ‘B’ and have a bye into second round. The Strasbourg Maroons are not in provincials but I understand that three of their players are playing with Lumsden and some players are playing with Balgonie.