The Wilkie Outlaws have already beaten the Kindersley Red Lions in a Saskatchewan West Hockey League semifinal series.
Now they have to do it again in order to reach the provincial finals.
After defeating the Red Lions in three straight games in the SWHL playoffs, the Outlaws will do battle once again with their league rivals Friday in Wilkie in the first game of a senior ‘A’ semifinal series.
“We’ve grown to not like each other a whole lot, that’s for sure,” Outlaws forward Mitch Suchan said.
“I think it’s been good to have these matchups before hand in the league so that things are really heated up when the provincial series begins,” Red Lions coach Curtis Graham added.
The league playoff meeting between the two sides wrapped up Tuesday night in Wilkie, as the Outlaws scored four goals in the first period on their way to a 5-0 win.
The Outlaws had previously won by scores of 9-2 and 9-4 over the Red Lions.
“In each of the games, we wanted to get off to big starts and that was the key for us,” Suchan said. “We had that first round bye and we wanted to keep up that momentum going into the playoffs.”
On the provincial side of the ledger, the Outlaws advanced to the ‘A’ semifinal with a 2-1 series win over the Waldheim Prairie Outlaws over the weekend.
“The first game in the series was a real eye-opener for us as we hadn’t seen a team play like that all season,” Suchan said. “They had a lot of skill and could move the puck really quickly, so we had to adapt and fight our way back to win the next two games.”
The Red Lions moved on with a three-game series win over the Wakaw Lakers.
“We’ve been excellent on home ice so far but we can’t seem to get any wins on the road for whatever reason,” Graham said. “Wilkie has home ice in this series, so we’ll need to be on our game for sure.
“Our roster is a little bit different than what we have in the league. We’ve picked up three of the top guys on offence from Kerrobert (Jeremy Boyer, Bret Peppler and Jorden Braid) so that gives us a lot of weapons.”
With a much stronger opponent awaiting them, the Outlaws expect the provincial battle to be a much tougher one.
“We’re pretty much treating them like a brand new opponent,” Suchan said. “If we play the brand of Wilkie Outlaws hockey that we are known for, we should come out on top.”
Following Friday’s series opener, the Red Lions will host the second game of the provincials on March 11 at 8 p.m.
A third and deciding game, if needed, would take place in Wilkie on March 12 at 6 p.m.
When it comes to the SWHL final, the Outlaws are waiting to see who they will battle it out with for the league championship.
The Macklin Mohawks currently hold a 2-1 series lead over the Luseland/Dodsland Mallards heading into a game Friday night in Dodsland.
