Three years ago, the Hafford Hawks and Meota Combines went the distance in the battle for the Saskatchewan Prairie Hockey League title, with the Hawks coming out on top in five games.
Now the two sides will battle it out again for the league crown this Friday as they open up a best-of-five series in Hafford at 8:30 p.m.
“Both teams are really strong from top to bottom and I expect this series to be a physical one,” Combines defenceman Aaron Cadrin said. “It should be an excellent battle to wrap up the season.”
“We won one game against them in the regular season and Hafford won the other one,” Combines forward Daxen Collins added. “It can go either way.”
The Combines punched their ticket to the finals Saturday at the Battleford Arena as they defeated the defending champion Edam Three Stars by a score of 5-2 in the fifth and deciding game of their semifinal series.
Having held a 2-0 series lead, the Combines were unable to seal the deal on two occasions as the Three Stars clawed their way back to force the winner-take-all affair.
“The fifth game was probably the hardest one we’ve had all year,” Cadrin said. “It was a do-or-die situation for us and we came in the game with a different mentality as we knew that the cushion we had previously was gone.
“So far in the playoffs we have a 3-0 record in must-win games, but hopefully we won’t have to deal with that again.”
Riley Albert led the way for the Combines with a goal and an assist, while Collins scored the game-winning goal in the third period.
“The puck was sent along the far side boards and Kihisis [Derocher] was able to pick it up and made a nice pass across the ice,” Collins said.
“Quinton [Gauthier] made a great save on the first shot, but I was lucky enough to get the rebound and put the puck in the back of the net.”
Derocher and Sean Patrick also scored for the Combines in the victory.
Mitch Wall had both goals for the Three Stars in a losing effort.
Meanwhile, the Hawks advanced to the league final in dramatic fashion on home ice Sunday as they erased a 2-0 series deficit and won the series deciding game over the Battleford Beaver Blues in a 6-5 double overtime thriller.
Brandon Lesko, Nathan Linnell and Cole Rathgeber had a goal and an assist each for the Hawks, who also got goals from Brooks Fleury, Kobe Kindrachuk and Ryan Scheafer.
Cody Danberg and Mike George paced the offence for the Beaver Blues with a goal and two assists each, while Kevin Bendall, Roddy Hoffman and Brent Salzl also scored.
Following Friday’s contest in Hafford, the scene will shift to the Civic Centre in North Battleford as Game 2 of the final will take place Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
The dates and times for the rest of the series are still being determined.
Meanwhile, the Hawks and Three Stars are still alive in their quests for senior provincial titles.
The Hawks are playing the Drake Canucks in the senior ‘C’ north final, with the first game of the best-of-three series taking place in Hafford Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
The Three Stars will be in Turtleford on Saturday at 8 p.m. to take on the Debden Jets in the first game of their best-of-three senior ‘D’ north final.
