With less than a week remaining in the regular season of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season, the playoff picture is still unsettled.
What we do know is that the Melfort Mustangs will finish with the best record in the league and will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Flin Flon Bombers will have the second seed in the playoffs.
But after that, teams are still jockeying for positioning in the postseason.
The Humboldt Broncos could finish as high as 5th place and as low as 7th place.
With two games left, the Broncos can ensure themselves at least the 6th spot with a pair of victories to close out the regular season as they hold a one-point edge over the Battlefords North Stars.
Tonight, the green and gold will head to Weyburn to play a game that was originally scheduled for Friday, November 29 but was postponed due to an ammonia leak at Crescent Point Place that forced the Red Wings to temporarily relocate to Assiniboia in December.
If the playoffs began today, the Broncos and Red Wings would meet in the opening round. If Weyburn wins tonight, they will clinch third place.
Following Sunday’s shootout loss to the Kindersley Klippers, Assistant Head Coach Carter Hansen says the Broncos must keep the playoff mentality for the final two regular season games.
“We’ve been playing playoff hockey since January, but this going to be game one of a possible eight-game series with Weyburn. We got to playing on all cylinders, we got to be more dialed in on system stuff, trying to get everyone back healthy, kind of get our lines going, so we got some stuff to work on.”
This season, the Red Wings hold the season advantage over the Broncos with a 2-1 record in three games. Humboldt opened the season series with a victory in October followed by Weyburn winning the last two matchups.
Tonight’s game will mark the first appearance for Broncos goalie Dazza Mitchell in Weyburn being dealt to Humboldt at the trade deadline. The former Red Wing played in parts of four seasons in Weyburn, appearing in 104 regular season games with 44 wins.
Coverage for tonight’s game on Bolt FM begins at 6:45, with the opening faceoff at 7:00.
Following tonight’s game, the Broncos will conclude the regular season on Friday in Nipawin.