The St. Albert Merchants are playing the waiting game to see whom they play in the opening playoff round in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The Merchants (22-12-4) closed out the regular season in Sunday’s 7-4 victory over the Beverley Warriors (24-11-2) in Edmonton.
The win was the fourth in a row and the sixth in eight games.
The Merchants will face-off against the North Edmonton Red Wings (23-13-1), Morinville Jets (23-14) or Edmonton Mustangs (19-16-2) in the best-of-three west division qualifying round.
The top two teams in the west and east divisions have first-round byes.
Jared Kwasney tallied twice and Casey Reid added one goal and two assists against Beverly, ranked second in the west. Brayden Switner, Stefan Meunier, captain Brady Reid and affiliate Sandan Hunter also scored. Jamie Umbach, Mike Roeleveld and Jordan MacPhee had two assists apiece.
The Merchants posted period leads of 3-1 and 6-3. In net was Justin Pawlenchuk (16-10, 3.50 GAA).
In league play Ryan Harrison led the Merchants in assists with 29, points with 42 and penalty minutes with 124 in 33 games. Alex Hawirko was the top goal scorer with 21, including 10 on the power play, in 28 games.
Meanwhile, the Jets played their last game before the playoffs Tuesday against Beverly in Morinville, but the score was unavailable at press time.
Friday the Jets recorded their 10th win in 13 games with a 6-5 decision over the Red Wings in Morinville.
Nick Pratt struck twice for his 35th and 36th goals of the season and Ian Gadoury, Travis Geislinger, Brady McCorriston and Joey McRae notched singles for the league’s most penalized team. Mike Brown (9-6, 4.28 GAA) and affiliate Austin Witter (2-1, 4.57 GAA) took turns in net.
The St. Albert Raiders rallied in the third period to tie the Calgary Royals in the last home game before the playoffs in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
Jacob Lavoie’s second goal of the afternoon and Kyler Hehn’s league-leading 24th marker of the season pulled the Raiders even with the Royals at 4-4 Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
Hehn’s goal with 2:20 to play was his second point of the game and 41st in 33 games.
Brett Smythe chipped in with one goal and two assists and Tyler Dea had two helpers.
The third goal by the Royals (15-8-9) with the man advantage made it 4-2 in the opening minute of the third.
Mitch Martell (four GA on 16 shots) and Pat Gora (six saves) split netminding duties.
The Raiders (19-8-5) registered 24 shots on net.
Last weekend the Raiders beat the Royals 5-1 in Calgary.
The Raiders wrap up the regular season Saturday against the Oil Kings (15-12-5) in Leduc at 6 p.m.
A win would guarantee the 2012 provincial finalists a bye in the best-of-three opening round. The top two teams in the north and south advance directly into the best-of-five divisional semifinals.
The first-place Southside Athletic Club (20-6-6) lead the Raiders by two points with a game in hand in the north standings.
The playoffs are underway for the St. Albert Slash in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League.
Tuesday’s score against the Sherwood Park Fury in St. Albert was unavailable at press time.
Game two in the best-of-three opening series is Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in Sherwood Park.
Game three, if needed, is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Northstar Hyundai Arena.
The Slash (14-13-5) finished third in the north, with 11 wins and 22 points more than the last-place Fury.
The Slash outscored the Fury 21-5 in four wins this season.
The last game for the Slash before the playoffs was Saturday’s penalty-filled 4-3 win over the Highwood Raiders (10-13-9) in St. Albert. Jenna Jewell’s hat trick led all scorers. Rachel Rochat also tallied and Deanna Morin and Kate Lumley had three assists apiece. Andrea Dombowsky stopped a game-high 31 shots.
Morin finished the season with a team-leading 19 goals and 43 points in 26 games for fourth place in the league scoring race. Lumley ranked fifth overall in points with 36 in 32 games.
In league play the Slash were 3-4-2 after the Christmas break.
The Camrose Vikings ended the St. Albert Flyers’ 11-game undefeated streak Saturday in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.
The Vikings (10-9-10) scored three times in the first period and twice in the third, en route to the 5-3 win at Akinsdale Arena. They tallied twice on the power play and outshot the home team 52-42.
Cam Mazur, Ethan Lazaro and Curtis Peck scored and Thomas Friesen added two assists for the Flyers (17-6-5).
Tyler Boe (three GA on 10 shots) and Pat Dea (two GA on 42 shots) shared netminding duties.
The north division co-leaders were coming off a 2-0 victory over the KC Centennials (11-13-3) last week in St. Albert. Dea (10-4-2, 1.72 GAA and .946 save percentage) stopped a game-high 38 shots for his league-leading fifth shutout. Mazur potted both goals.
This weekend the Flyers visit the Sherwood Park Squires (17-8-3) Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday they host the SSAC Bulldogs (16-9-4) at 1:30 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
