The St. Albert SWAG are zoning in on qualifying for the 2012 Alberta Winter Games.
The U16 A junior ringette team started the Zone 5 double-knockout playoffs Friday for the right to represent the Black Gold/Yellowhead region at the Feb. 9 to 12 provincial competition at Stony Plain, Spruce Grove and Parkland County.
"The girls are very thrilled to get going. It's a big thing for them," said Martin Gautier, co-coach of the 23-3 SWAG.
Friday's score between the SWAG and Sherwood Park Ambition in Leduc was unavailable at press time.
Sunday the SWAG play the Beaumont Blaze at 9:45 a.m. at the Glen Allan Recreation Centre in Sherwood Park.
The last round-robin game for the SWAG is Thursday against Spruce Grove Core at 7:45 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena.
The top two teams advance to the Dec. 18 final at 10:30 a.m. at Millennium Place. If needed, the second playoff game is Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Spruce Grove.
"To be able to move on you've got to beat a team twice so if one team is undefeated going into the final game and if they lose it's fine because that would be their first loss," Gautier said.
Spruce Grove is expected to give SWAG their biggest challenge. Last month the SWAG lost the Platinum Ring final in Sherwood Park to Spruce Grove.
"They're very hard workers. They never give up," Gautier said.
Medicine Hat Mayhem also beat the SWAG in the final at the St. Albert Turkey Ring in October and the Lacombe Ice Breaker last weekend.
"Before that loss [in Lacombe] we were definitely on a big roll," Gautier said.
The SWAG racked up their 22 wins in tournaments and the Black Gold league. The team of 13 skaters and one goalie is led by a handful of players with U16 experience.
"The best advantage we have over all the other teams is our speed. We're a very fast skating team with very creative players," Gautier said.
Tournament results
The U12 A petite Shock defeated Edmonton Nitro 5-1 last weekend in Lacombe for their first tournament title of the year. In the round robin the Shock won 14-4 against Lacombe, 5-2 against Beaumont and 7-3 against Edmonton and were upset 4-3 by Spruce Grove, who they beat 14-2 earlier in the season.
After two tournaments and six tiering games the Shock are 5-6-3. They also knocked off a tough Sherwood Park squad 4-3 in the first official league game.
The tween U14 A Illusion also won their division at Lacombe. In the final they edged the Regina Cyclones 8-7 in a shootout.
