The SJHL has released its schedule for 2018-19, and it all begins Sept. 12 in Humboldt on national television.
The Humboldt Broncos will host the defending champion Nipawin Hawks at 7:30 p.m. that evening in a game that will be broadcast nationally on TSN and on CTV in Saskatchewan.
It will be their first meeting since the bus crash on April 6 in which 16 lives were lost. The Broncos had been travelling to Nipawin for game five of their playoff series with the Hawks.
The league will then see 10 teams in action Friday, Sept. 14, which will be the first night of action for the Battlefords North Stars against their rivals the Kindersley Klippers. That will be the first game behind the bench for new North Stars head coach Brayden Klimosko, as well as Kindersley coach Clayton Jardine.
Other games that night will see the Broncos play in Nipawin in the home opener for the Hawks, Flin Flon at La Ronge, Estevan at Melville and Yorkton at Weyburn.
Melfort and Notre Dame will open their seasons the following night, Sept. 15, in Melfort. The North Stars will play the second game of their home and home with Kindersley that night as well.
The first game between the North Stars and the Humboldt Broncos will be in Humboldt Sept. 22. That will be head coach Klimosko’s first game coaching against his former team.
The North Stars’ first home game against the Broncos is not until Oct. 27, a date many fans will circle on the calendar.
Also, the first North Stars home contest against the defending champion Nipawin Hawks is Oct 3.
With respect to the home schedule, the bulk of the North Stars’ games will be Friday nights with a few Tuesday and Saturday contests. There are 11 Friday games, six Saturday games and six Tuesday night games on the home schedule.
No home games are scheduled for Monday and there is one Thursday and two Sunday games scheduled.
Sept. 23 to 26 will be the SJHL Showcase which once again takes place in Warman. The North Stars play La Ronge Sept. 23 at 1:45 p.m. and Weyburn at 10 a.m. on Sept. 25.
The second-annual SJHL-MJHL Showcase will be in Regina Jan. 13 to 15.
The last day of the regular season is March 5 when four games are scheduled. Kindersley will be in the Battlefords as one of four games that date. The full SJHL schedule for 2018-19 can be found at sjhl.ca.
