Thursday the St. Albert Sabres host the Spruce Grove PAC Saints in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey league.
Faceoff is 7 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The Sabres (11-8-3), winners of four consecutive games, have a firm grip on the fourth and final playoff spot in the nitro north division and trail the third-place Sherwood Park Flyers (13-9-2) by three points with two games in hand.
The Saints (20-3) are ranked second in the charger north division.
The first-place St. Albert Merchants return to action this weekend in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
Friday the Merchants (23-2-1) play the North Edmonton Red Wings (15-8-2) at 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena and Sunday they visit the Strathcona Bruins (11-14-1) at 3:30 p.m. in Fultonvale.
The Merchants, winners of 12 in a row, and Red Wings are the top two teams in the west division.
The Merchants’ home record is 12-1-1.
The next game for the Morinville Kings in the North Central Hockey League is Saturday against the Slave Lake Winterhawks.
Puck drop is 8:30 p.m. at the Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
In the north division the Kings (8-2) are one point back of the first-place Devon Barons (8-2-1), the 2013 NCHL champions, with a game in hand. The Winterhawks (4-6-1) are last in the north.
The first-year Kings have won six in a row and eight of their last nine games.
The NCHL’s most penalized team is averaging 5.2 goals scored and 4.8 goals against.
The Kings are also the host team for the March 28 to 30 senior AA/A provincials. The eight-team, 10-game tournament will feature the league winners from the Ranchland, North Peace, Sask/Alta, Battle River and NCHL, plus the Okotoks Drillers, the lone AA team in the Chinook AAA league, one wild card team and the Kings.
The winners on day one advance to the AA side of the draw and the losers are relegated to the A bracket.
The St. Albert Flyers are back on the ice Jan. 6 against CAC United Cycle in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.
Game time is 8:15 p.m. at Millwoods Arena.
The Flyers (11-4-5), ranked second in the north, finished their December schedule at 2-3-1.
The CAC (9-8-2) is eighth in the 12-team standings.
Matt Murray (7-1-3) is second among AMMHL netminders with a 2.18 GAA.
