For the second straight year the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League championship series will pit the Yorkton Terriers against the LaRonge Icewolves.
A 4-0 sweep of Kindersley earned Yorkton its second straight Sherwood Conference crown, and the berth in the league championship final.
LaRonge earned their chance to defend their 2009-10 crown eliminating Melfort in five-games this past Friday night.
Icewolves head coach Bob Beatty said it is an accomplishment to be in a position to repeat as champions.
"It's very rewarding," he said, adding last year "both the Terriers and us were underdogs going into the playoffs."
This time around, both teams arrive in the finals after topping their respective conferences, which is also a bit surprising, said Beatty.
"It's not often there aren't upsets in the playoffs," he said, adding he thought the top-four teams in the league were in the semi finals and the top two teams advancing.
Terrier coach Trent Cassan said he is expecting it to be a long, tough series.
"They've certainly been the top team in the league all season," he said, as witnessed by a 42-14-0-2 regular season record and 86 points, easily topping the Bauer Conference by 14 points.
Beatty is also looking at it as being a tough finals.
"I think it's going to be a great series," he said, adding "the Terriers are firing on all cylinders."
The fact the Terriers have been on a roll will mean the Icewolves will need to put a roadblock in front of the opponents.
"We're certainly going to have to play low risk," said Beatty.
Cassan said he wasn't sure the Icewolves lost more than two straight games all season long, so that suggests a long series ahead.
"They're very consistent, and obviously very well coached (co-coach of the year nominee in Beatty)," he said. "They're a pretty well rounded team."
The Icewolves had 262 regular season goals tops in the entire SJHL.
They allowed only 175, second only to Melfort in the league. The Terriers were stingy on defence too allowing only 178-goals, a Sherwood Conference-best.
Yorkton scored 209 regular season goals.
In the playoffs, a trio of Wolves top the scoring. Travis Eggum and Logan Herauf each have 22 points, with Marc Andre Carre having 21, all having played 10 games.
Three Terriers come next, having appeared in only eight games, Robbie Ciolfi and Justin Buzzeo each having 16 points, and Clarke Breitkreuz, 14.
The Terriers' Jeremy Boyer is in 13th, with nine points, Nathan Murray is 17th with eight and Craig Eisenhut is in 20th, with seven are also in the top-20 of playoff scoring, as is LaRonge's Skyler Hladun, 12th, also with nine points.
Coilfi with nine and Buzzeo with eight, are one-two in playoff goals.
In the regular season, Eggum and Carre tied for the league-lead in points each with 106, followed by teammate Doug Lindensmith with 98 points.
Terrier Jeremy Boyer had an 87-point year, with 42 goals, while Justin Buzzeo had 82 points. The duo were fifth and seventh respectively in league scoring.
Cassan said the Icewolves have depth too.
"Everybody talks about their top line, but it's not one line. I don't feel that way at all," he said. "They've got guys making contributions in different ways that help their team win."
Beatty also tips his hat to the Terrier defence.
"Our play away from the puck is going to have to be good," he said. "We can't give the snipers a lot time and space, or they're going to be scoring some goals."
As for Lindensmith who missed the semi final series, Beatty said he is hoping his big sniper will be back before the series is over.
"He was skating today," said the Icewolves coach Monday, adding "we're hoping he'll be able to be a factor."
In net, Devin Peters played in 35 games for Yorkton, winning 22, with a 2.95 GAA and a .906 save percentage, while Warren Shymko played in 28 games, won 12, with a 2.86 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
In the playoffs Peters is a perfect 8-0 with a sparkling 1.00 GAA and a .970 save percentage.
Adam Bartko has a 2.40 GAA and .920 save percentage in the playoffs, over 10 starts. In the regular season, he had a 2.96 GAA, and .908 save percentage with 27 wins.
Defensively, Cassan said the Icewolves are a lot like the Terriers.
"They have older, experienced guys on defence that don't get as much attention," he said.
The series starts Friday in LaRonge, with Game 2 set for Saturday at the Mel Hegland Uniplex.
The series will swing back to Yorkton for action Tuesday and Wednesday at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
