Today’s doubleheader between the Black Gold Rush and Calgary RATH in the National Ringette League starts at 11:30 a.m. at Mark Messier Arena.
The rematch is 5:45 p.m. at Riviere Qui Barre Arena.
The first-year Rush (5-8-3) trail the RATH (8-8) and BC Thunder (8-10) by three points in the race for second place in the western conference. The top two teams qualify for the NRL championship tournament, April 3 to 9 in London, Ont. A playoff between the next two teams in the standings will determine the third western rep at nationals.
The Rush are 2-1 in the season series against the RATH, the fourth-place finishers at the 2015 NRL championship.
Danielle Pronovost of Stony Plain leads the Rush in scoring 20 goals and 34 points. Lauren Henderson of St. Albert is second in points with 26 and the team leader in assists with 15. Henderson and captain Nikki Andruchow of St. Albert are tied for second in goals with 11 apiece. Andruchow is third in points with 22 and Talia Gallant of Winnipeg, a teammate of Henderson on the U21 national team that defeated Finland in the President’s Trophy final at the recent world championships, is fourth with 20.
The St. Albert Merchants close out the regular season in the Capital Junior B Hockey League with three home games at Akinsdale Arena.
The Merchants host the Wetaskiwin Icemen (22-10-3) Sunday and next weekend the Stony Plain Flyers (11-19-4) Friday and Fort Saskatchewan Hawks (19-13-2) Sunday. Game times are 8 p.m.
The Merchants (20-12-2) played the Riggers (9-24-2) Friday in Leduc but the score was unavailable at press time.
The Merchants ranked third in the west division by one point over the Beverly Warriors (19-12-3) before their last road game until the playoffs.
The Merchants were 5-2 in January before the Leduc game.
The St. Albert Slash skate on consecutive days in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League, starting Sunday against the Lloydminster Steelers.
Faceoff is 1:30 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
Monday the Slash visit the Sherwood Park Fury at 7 p.m.
The sixth-place Slash (8-11-6) were five points ahead of the eighth-place Steelers (7-14-3) and nine back of the third-place Fury (13-3-5) before Friday’s home game against the seventh-place Peace Country Storm (8-12-3). The score was unavailable at press time.
The Slash record in January was 2-1-1.
