The top team in the National Ringette League’s Elite Eight rankings is in St. Albert today to play the Edmonton Black Gold Rush.
Start time is 9:45 a.m. between the Montreal Mission and the Rush at Go Auto Arena.
The teams meet again at 5:45 p.m. at Riviere Qui Barre Arena.
Montreal (16-1-2) is second in the 11-team eastern conference and the Rush (5-7-2), a first-year NRL team with several St. Albert Ringette Association graduates in the lineup, are last in the four-team western standings.
Rounding out the Elite Eight are the 2015 NRL champion Cambridge Turbos (14-1-2), Edmonton WAM! (12-2-2), Atlantic Attack (18-4), Gloucester Devils (11-5-1), Richmond Hill Lightning (12-8-1), Calgary RATH (8-8) and Ottawa Ice (10-8).
Montreal also has a doubleheader scheduled Sunday against the WAM! at 9:15 a.m. at Stu Barnes Arena in Spruce Grove and 2 p.m. in Leduc.
Teams have two months left to secure a spot in the NRL championship tournament.
The St. Albert Lady Raiders start a six-game homestand tonight in the Alberta Major Bantam Female Hockey League.
Faceoff is 7:45 p.m. against the Southeast Tigers (4-14) at Go Auto Arena.
The Raiders host the Edmonton Lightning (14-2-2) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday’s game against the Sherwood Park Royals (11-4-3) starts at 8:15 p.m.
The Raiders (9-5-4) are three points behind the second-place Royals and trail the first-place Lightning by eight in the north division.
Andrea Gauchier and Isabelle Lajoie are tied for sixth in league scoring with 18 points apiece.
The Blues and Crusaders play their upcoming home games at Mark Messier Arena in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League.
The Blues (11-9-4) entertain SSAC Don Wheaton (15-3-4) tonight at 8:30 p.m. and Tuesday the Crusaders (16-6-2) face-off against the Sherwood Park Oilers (9-11-3) at 8:30 p.m.
The St. Albert Flyers have home-ice advantage this weekend in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.
The Flyers skate tonight against CRAA Gold of Calgary at 8 p.m. and Sunday they play the Grande Peace Storm at 10:45 a.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The team’s home record is 8-4-1.
The Flyers (14-8-4) are fifth and the Storm (5-18-3) are 10th in the north division. The Gold (10-8-7) shares fifth place in the south standings.
The Flyers are 3-3-1 in January after Tuesday’s 5-1 loss to the first-place SSAC Bulldogs (21-1-4) at Confederation Arena.
