Despite losing to the Kindersley Klippers on Saturday night, the Estevan Bruins still have a shot at finishing in sixth place in the SJHL standings.
The Bruins were sitting two points behind the Humboldt Broncos entering last night's game in Melville, with a game in hand.
Still, even with an extra game in their pocket, the Bruins' schedule between now and the finish line on March 1 isn't easy.
They have two games in Melville, including the one last night, and a home game against Battlefords in between before closing out the regular season with a home-and-home set against Weyburn.
That's three games against very good teams, and while Weyburn is battling for one of the last playoff spots, they're not a club many teams want to face right now. The season series is tied at three wins apiece and the standings go out the window when the Highway 39 rivalry renews.
The Broncos, meanwhile, were in La Ronge last night and now have three games at home to finish the year, against Kindersley, Yorkton and Notre Dame.
Yorkton and Notre Dame are on hot streaks and no one who was at Saturday's game needs to be told how good Kindersley is. And Humboldt has hit a bit of a snag, losing six of their past 10 games, including an 8-2 walloping at the hands of the Millionaires on Friday.
In order to win the sixth spot, the Bruins will have to play some clutch hockey on the road, and they'll have to do it shorthanded.
Forwards Austin Roesslein and Keaton Longpre are still out, while defenceman R.T. Rice re-injured his ankle Saturday and will be touch-and-go from here on out. Nick Egan was facing a one-game suspension for his fifth fight of the year.
On the hit Ben Johnstone threw in the first period on Saturday, someone will have to explain to me where the charging call came from, let alone a major and game misconduct. Johnstone glided into the hit, made shoulder-to-shoulder contact and didn't leave his feet.
Contact Josh Lewis at 306-634-2654 or [email protected]. If Canada falls short of its medal projections in Sochi, we can probably blame the short track team, which has won two medals but fallen short (sometimes literally) on many others it was expected to contend for.
