As it should be, the North Saskatchewan River Hockey League standings were not determined until the final day of the regular season.
Thanks to a stellar performance by Rick Dallyn in net and goals from Cole Fern, Calvin Fiddler and Jordon Oystrick, the Meadow Lake Stampeders beat the St. Walburg Eagles 3-1. The Stampeders jumped into first place finishing one point ahead of the Eagles, as they also beat Spiritwood 10-4 on the weekend.
Meadow Lake and Spiritwood will now face off in the first round of playoffs with games Saturday in Meadow Lake and Sunday in Spiritwood.
In the second versus seventh series, St. Walburg faces Paradise Hill. The close rivals begin their series in St. Walburg Saturday and play in Paradise Hill Sunday. Game three is scheduled for Wednesday in St. Walburg.
Maidstone clinched the third spot in the standings after 8-3 and 6-3 wins over Turtleford and a 7-4 win against Spiritwood in the final week.
Maidstone's Brett Harrison played just two of the Jets' final three games on the weekend. He recorded four points in both games on his way to the NSRHL scoring title. Harrison finished the season with 33 goals and 27 assists in 19 games. Linemate Rory Gregoire was two points back of Harrison in his first season in the league.
Wilkie and Edam renewed their playoff rivalry Wednesday night in the first game of their best-of-five playoff series. The fifth place 3 Stars beat the fourth place Outlaws in Wilkie Wednesday by a 4-0 score. Game two of the series goes Friday in Edam.
