The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings head north to the Whitney Forum to take on the Flin Flon Bombers in Game 1 of the SJHL semifinals. The Red Wings come in as the underdog, ranking third in the SJHL regular season compared to the Bombers who ranked second. That means the Bombers will have home-ice advantage, however the Red Wings have been excellent on the road all year long.
The Red Wings finished 18-8 on the road in the regular season and won all three road games of the first round of SJHL playoffs against the Battlefords North Stars. In the regular season, the Red Wings beat the Bombers on the road twice, but Head Coach and GM, Cody Mapes, understands the challenge of facing the Bombers in the postseason.
“They’ve been the best team in our league for a long, long time consistently. Every year, they’ve played in championship finals, and you know we’re going in as the lower seed. I think we like that.”
The Bombers have made the championship final their last three years straight, but haven’t been able to close it out to win the Canterra Seeds Cup. They lost last year in the finals to the Melfort Mustangs, in 2023 against the North Stars, and in 2022 against the Estevan Bruins. With the Bombers wanting to get over the hump, the Red Wings stand in their way. Forward for the Red Wings, Lucas Schmid, is excited for the challenge.
”We know they’re a good team, we’re a good team too so we are really looking forward to this round. Obviously, in the first round getting three wins on the road is huge, earlier in the year we were able to get two (wins) out of them up here so you know we’re excited. We know it’s going to be a fun environment and looking forward to it.”
The puck drops on Game 1 of the SJHL semifinals tonight at 7:30 p.m. CDT at the Whitney Forum. Catch all the action on Great Plains Ford Red Wing Radio Country 106.7 with Dylan Fiessel and John Prette starting at 6:15 p.m. CST with the pre-game show.