The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres host the SSAC Southgate Lions today in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League playoffs.
Faceoff is 3:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The best-of-three opening round started Friday night but the score from Callingwood Arena was unavailable at press time.
Game three, if needed, is 5:45 p.m. Sunday at Millwoods Arena.
The winner plays the Sherwood Park Flyers (24-5-4) or Canadian Athletic Club (17-15-1) in the best-of-three nitro north division final.
In league play, SSAC (19-11-3) finished four points in front of the third-place Sabres (16-12-5) in the nitro standings but St. Albert won the season series 3-2.
Last year SSAC swept the Sabres in the first round.
Paul Kane High School teacher Lori Olson-Johns is curling in her third Scotties Tournament of Hearts, starting tonight in Moose Jaw.
The third for Alberta champion Val Sweeting of the Saville Centre curled for Cathy King at the 2005 and 2006 Scotties.
The first game for Sweeting, last year’s finalist, is against the winner of the pre-event qualifier involving the Northwest Territories, Northern Ontario and the Yukon.
Visit www.curling.ca for draw times and results.
The Canadian champion advances to worlds next month in Sapporo, Japan, in addition to qualifying for the 2015 Canada Cup in Grande Prairie, the 2016 Continental Cup in Las Vegas and the 2016 Scotties in Grande Prairie.
Olson-Johns, a three-time Alberta junior champion, joined Sweeting’s lineup of second Dana Ferguson and lead Rachelle Brown in November after playing second for Cheryl Bernard of Calgary the last three seasons.
The senior (50-plus) men’s provincial championship is underway in Medicine Hat for St. Albert curlers’ Doug McLennan, Don McKenzie and Dan Holowaychuk.
McLennan is the third for Glen Hansen of Hinton, McKenzie is the second for Brad Hannah of the Saville Centre and Holowaychuk is the second for Wade White of the Saville Centre.
The St. Albert trio are former Alberta senior champions who medalled at nationals.
Hannah lost the 2011 national final with McKenzie on the team and White’s lineup of McLennan, Holowaychuk and George Parsons, the second for Hansen, finished third in 2013.
Last month at the northern playdowns, Hansen beat Hannah in the A final, Hannah defeated White in the B final and White knocked off Kevin Gunderson of the Crestwood in the C final.
Visit www.albertacurling.ab.ca for draw times and results.
