
The North Peace Hockey League has completed their regular season, now it’s time for the playoffs.
The Manning Comets took home the Lawrence Cup for the best record in the regular season, they had a record of 16-3-1 for 33 points. They will await the winner of the best-of-three play-in series between the Valleyview Jets and High Prairie Regals that will start on Tuesday. The Jets finished fourth in the East division with a 7-11-2 record for 16, while the Regals struggled in their return to the league, losing 19 of the 20 games they played in the regular season.
As for the other quarterfinal matchups. The 2 vs 3 series in the East Division will be the Falher Pirates against the Fox Creek Knights. Falher went 12-4-4 for 28 points while Fox Creek had a 12-8 record for 24 points. Over in the West Division, the Dawson Creek Canucks will face the Fort St. John Flyers, while the Spirit River Rangers will take on the Grande Prairie Athletics. Dawson Creek and Spirit River were tied for first in the West with 30, the Canucks got the tiebreaker on the basis of winning the head-to-head season series between the two teams in the regular season. Grande Prairie had 18 points and Fort St. John had 10.
Play-In Series – Valleyview vs High Prairie
Schedule
Game 1 – Tuesday in Valleyview
Game 2 – Thursday in High Prairie
Game 3 – Friday in Valleyview * – if necessary
Season Series – Valleyview won 3-0
Quarterfinal – Falher vs Fox Creek
Game 1 – Saturday in Falher
Game 2 – Sunday in Fox Creek
Game 3 – February 13 in Falher
Game 4 – February 15 in Fox Creek
Game 5 – February 17 in Falher * – if necessary
Game 6 – February 19 in Fox Creek * – if necessary
Game 7 – February 21 in Falher * – if necessary
Season Series – Falher won 2-1
Quarterfinal – Spirit River vs Grande Prairie
Game 1 – Thursday in Spirit River
Game 2 – Saturday in Spirit River
Game 3 – February 13 in Grande Prairie
Game 4 – February 15 in Grande Prairie
Game 5 – February 18 in Spirit River * – if necessary
Game 6 – February 20 in Grande Prairie * – if necessary
Game 7 – February 21 in Spirit River * – if necessary
Season Series – Spirit River won 3-1
Quarterfinal – Dawson Creek vs Fort St. John
Series Schedule – TBA
Season Series – Dawson Creek won 3-1
Some other things to keep in mind for the playoffs is that the semi-final round will see a crossover where the higher seeded team in the West will play the lower seed in the East and vice-versa, with the two semi-final winners meeting for the league championship.
The league will also be sending a representative to the Alberta Senior AA Provincials happening from April 3-6 in Lethbridge.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom