The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres host the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers tonight in the north regional series opener in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
Puck drop is 7:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Game two in the best-of-five playoff is 6:30 p.m. Thursday at JRC Arena and game three is 1:45 p.m. Saturday at Akinsdale Arena.
If needed, game four is 2:30 p.m. Sunday at JRC Arena and game five is 8:15 p.m. Tuesday at Akinsdale Arena.
The Sabres (31-1-4, 214 GF/77 GA) finished first overall in the AMBHL as the Nitro north division leaders and in the playoffs are 4-1.
The Rangers (27-7-2) were the top team in the Charger north division and are 4-0 in the playoffs.
The Sabres edged the Rangers 3-2 Dec. 22 in St. Albert and the teams battled to an 8-8 stalemate Jan. 26 in Fort Saskatchewan.
The winner will face-off against the Ram south division Lethbridge Golden Hawks (27-5-4, 178 GF/73 GA) or the Challenger south division Calgary Bisons (24-8-4, 173 GF/77 GA) in the best-of-five AMBHL provincial final starting March 11.
The Alberta champion advances to westerns, March 30 to April 2 in Warman and Martensville, Sask., and the five-team tournament is hosted by the Saskatchewan Valley Vipers.
The last St. Albert bantam AAA team to win provincials was the 1999 Sabres.
The Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs started Tuesday for the St. Albert Tire Warehouse Raiders in the best-of-five north semifinals.
The score against the Leduc Oil Kings at Akinsdale Arena was unavailable at press time.
Game two is 8 p.m. Thursday and game three is 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
If needed, game four is 6:45 p.m. Tuesday in Leduc and game five is March 9 at 7 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The winner plays the Sherwood Park Kings (23-8-3) or Southside Athletic Club (15-18-1) in the best-of-five north final.
The Raiders (16-14-4, 103 GF/97 GA) and Leduc (14-15-5, 94 GF/103 GA) finished second and third, respectively, in the north standings.
In league play, the Raiders won 3-0 Jan. 15 in Leduc and the teams skated to a 4-4 draw Jan. 28 in St. Albert.
The Raiders are coming off a first-round bye and Leduc swept the sixth-place Maple Leafs (9-18-7) in the best-of-three opening round.
In league scoring, Garrett Clegg of the Raiders tied for the lead in goals with 20.
