Round 1 Recap

The KJHL’s Divisional semi-finals saw some good battles to see who’s season would continue in pursuit of the KJHL championship.

In the North Division, the defending champion Peguis Juniors played the Norway House North Stars.  This series was hard fought, and while the Juniors swept an over-matched North Stars team, Norway House gave Peguis everything they could handle.  The series began in Fisher River, where Peguis took game 1 by an 8-4 score & then game 2 the following day by an 8-3 margin.  The next game in the series flipped to Norway House, where the North Stars looked to extend the series another game, holding a 3-2 lead going into the 3rd, but just couldn’t hold off Peguis, who scored twice to win by a 4-3 margin and sweep the series.

The other North Division semi-final saw the second place Arborg Ice Dawgs play host to OCN for the first three games of the series.  Arborg took game 1 of the series 6-3, then followed that up with a 6-4 win, and closed out the best of 5 series with a convincing 10-2 romp.  Finishing 3rd in the division marked a huge improvement for the upstart OCN Storm, who will continue to look for improvement next season.

The North Division final will now see the Peguis Juniors play the Arborg Ice Dawgs in what surely will be a heated rivalry.  Both teams have been contenders the past few years and are both experienced winners of the league Championship.

In the South Division, the Selkirk Fishermen began their playoff run in a series with the Lundar Falcons.  While Selkirk had earned the top ranking, the series opened in Lundar due to ice scheduling.  Selkirk cruised to a 5-0 win in game 1, and two days later won 4-1 at home to hold a 2-0 lead.  Game 3 was played a week later, and Selkirk won by a 12-3 convincing margin to sweep the series.

The last Divisional semi-final saw the North Winnipeg Satelites matchup against the St. Malo Warriors.  Game 1 in Winnipeg saw the home-side Satelites take the game 4-2.  As the series shifted to St. Malo, the Warriors took game 2 by a 4-3 margin to tie the series up at one.  The teams played again on Tuesday night in Winnipeg, where the Satelites won 5-3 to regain the lead in the series.  Friday night saw the series shift back to St. Malo, and the Warriors hoping to extend it to a game 5, while the Satelites looked to close the series out and earn a second round date with the Fishermen.  While the score ended up 5-1 Satelites, the Warriors peppered the net with shots, but just couldn’t find the back.  The Satelites win the series 3-1 and move on to the Divisional Final vs the Fishermen.

After an exciting first round of play, four teams remain in the hunt the for the KJHL Championship and the opportunity to go to Abbotsford, BC for the Keystone Cup.

In the North Division, the Peguis Juniors will play the Arborg Ice Dawgs and in the South Division, the Selkirk Fishermen will play the North Winnipeg Satelites.  Both series are a Best of 7.

Follow the action live & check in on the web for scores and schedules: http://www.keystonejr.ca/leagues/bracket.cfm?leagueID=18880&clientID=4338