The playoffs start tonight for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
Puck drop is 7:45 p.m. between the Sabres (31-1-4) and Sherwood Park Flyers (13-18-5) at Akinsdale Arena.
Game two in the best-of-three Nitro north division semifinal is 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Sherwood Park Arena.
Game three, if needed, is 4:15 p.m. Saturday at Akinsdale Arena.
The winner plays the KC Squires (15-11-10) or Maple Leafs (13-16-7) in the best-of-three Nitro final.
The Sabres beat the Flyers three times in the four-game season series by scores of 4-2, 5-1 and 4-2 and the 5-5 tie Nov. 29 in St. Albert ended the team’s 16-game winning streak.
The Sabres finished first overall in the 21-team AMBHL while scoring a league-high 214 goals and tied for second in goals-against with 77.
The last AMBHL championship team from St. Albert was the 1998/99 Sabres (21-11-4) as the bronze medallists at westerns.
The opening draw for the inaugural Alberta Stick Curling Championship is 9 a.m. Friday at the St. Albert Curling Club.
The final is 1 p.m. Sunday and the winner advances to the Canadian Stick Curling Championship, March 23 to 26 in New Glasgow, N.S.
The opening ceremonies are slated for 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday’s banquet starts at 5:30 p.m.
As of Sunday, 22 two-person teams were confirmed for provincials.
All games are six ends and the two delivering curlers alternately deliver six stones each per end from a standing or sitting (wheelchair) position with a curling stick while their teammates skip that end and then the roles are reversed.
The St. Albert Blues are back on the ice Thursday in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League.
The Blues (20-5-2) and Maple Leafs (11-11-4) face-off at 8:15 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
The Blues are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games as the top team in the Anderson division of the Metro conference.
Friday the St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders (16-10-2) visit the Sturgeon Sting (6-16-5) at 6:15 p.m. at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
The Crusaders were tied for second in the Besa division of the Metro conference while going 4-3-1 in 2017 before Tuesday’s home contest against the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (5-19-1) but the score was unavailable at press time.
