The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings return home this weekend with a chance to advance to the SJHL playoff semifinals Saturday night against the Battlefords North Stars. After splitting the home series in Weyburn last weekend, the Red Wings soared to victory in North Battleford, taking both road games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Going up 3-1 in the series with a chance to close it out on home ice on a Saturday night, provides a very exciting opportunity. One that Cody Mapes, head coach and general manager of the Red Wings, can’t wait for.
“We just got to take it one day at a time, get a good practice on Friday but we are hoping to see a packed barn (Saturday night). I think that this group deserves it. They’ve battled all year, they’ve won the (Viterra) division, they’ve put themselves in a position here to close things out on a Saturday night at home.”
The Red Wings beat the Battlefords North Stars 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday to put themselves into that position to close out the series at home. Angelo Zol made 29 saves on 31 shots in the win, and forward Liam Fitzgerald pounced on the rebound and put home the overtime winner. The excitement of winning in overtime is incredible, but Fitzgerald can’t wait for the excitement at Crescent Point Place.
“We knew we didn't bring our best two efforts in (game) 1 and (game) 2 at home so we really wanted to make sure we came down here and played to the best of our abilities. So, we're super excited to go home, hopefully give our fans a great game and do our best.”
The last time the Red Wings won at home to advance to the second round of playoff action was on March 14th, 2018, when they beat the Melville Millionaires 3-2 in overtime. They were then swept in 4 games against the North Stars.
However, 7 years changes a lot for a hockey team. On March 14th, 2018, Wes Rudy was the head coach, Mike Eskra was the captain, and the recorded attendance was 525 people. In 2025, the lowest regular season attendance was 592 on October 5th, 2024 in their first win, 6-2 over the Nipawin Hawks. In the playoffs, attendance numbers have more than doubled. 1175 people came to Game 1 last Friday, and 1274 people came to Game 2 on Saturday. Mapes knows the support of the hometown crowd is one of the best parts of playoff hockey.
“To win (a playoff series) at home on a weekend is a pretty cool opportunity. We want to make sure that we give ourselves the best chance to do that and you know there’s been great crowds these last six weeks and it would be cool to see 1500 people in the building and really get it rocking.”
The last time the Red Wings saw over 1500 fans at Crescent Point Place was over 5 years ago on February 28th, 2020, in their final regular season matchup against the rival Estevan Bruins just before the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The puck drops on Game 5 against the Battlefords North Stars at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night at Crescent Point Place. Listen to the game on Great Plains Ford Red Wing Radio Country 106.7 with Dylan Fiessel and John Perette starting at 6:45 p.m. with the pre-game show.