The Tier II north semifinal between the Paul Kane Blues and St. Joseph’s Celtics of Grande Prairie kicks off today at 2:30 p.m. at Foote Field and admission is $5.
The winner hosts the Austin O’Brien Crusaders, the three-time reigning Alberta Bowl champion, or the Lloydminster Barons of the Wheatland league in the north final next Saturday.
The Alberta Bowl is Nov. 22 in Lethbridge.
The Blues are 8-0 after repeating as the Miles division two championship in the metro Edmonton league and the Celtics are 11-0 as the Mighty Peace champions.
The Celtics are slotted No. 1 in the Tier II (750 to 1,249 students) Football Alberta rankings. The Blues are second, AOB (3-6) is eighth and Lloydminster (7-2) is ninth.
Last year in the north semifinal the Blues battled back from deficits of 14-0 and 21-14 to defeat the Celtics 45-28 in Grande Prairie.
In the north final the Blues lost 32-0 to AOB, a Carr division one team, to finish 10-1 overall.
The St. Albert Raiders wrap up their six-game homestand this weekend in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
The Raiders (3-4-5) host the KC Pats (3-8) today and the Southeast Tigers (3-7-2) of Medicine Hat on Sunday. Game times are 1:15 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The Raiders are 2-1-1 during their recent home stretch and 2-3-2 overall at the Akinsdale facility after last weekend’s 6-3 win over the Leafs (1-11) and 2-2 draw against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (5-4-3).
Tuesday the Raiders are in Fort Saskatchewan to play the Rangers (4-4-3) at 7:45 p.m.
The St. Albert Sabres skate today against the KC Squires in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
Faceoff is 3:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Monday the Sabres entertain the Maple Leafs at 6:45 p.m.
The Sabres (5-4-3) are 3-1-1 in their last five games.
KC (1-8-1) and the Leafs (2-9-1) trail the third-place Sabres in the nitro north standings.
Sunday the St. Albert Merchants face-off against the Beverly Warriors in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
Puck drop is 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Last month Beverly (8-3-2) beat the Merchants 5-3 in Edmonton.
The first-place Merchants (11-3) were winners of six in a row before Friday’s tilt in Stony Plain against the Flyers (7-6). The score was unavailable at press time.
