By Ryan Laverty /
Fury peak at right time
With a balanced attack and impenetrable defence, the Sherwood Park Fury have proven that the regular season is just top-dressing for playoff time and that it’s better to bloom late than not at all.
The Fury finished third in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League’s North Division this season. That result was good enough for a spot in the post-season to be sure, but with 12 fewer points than the second-place Edmonton Thunder and 13 back of the first place Lloydminster Steelers, the Fury were hardly pegged as favourites heading into the post-season.
But thanks to a 2-1 series win over Spruce Grove in the North quarterfinals and a 3-1 upset of the Thunder in the semis, the Fury have punched their ticket to the best-of-five division championship against the Steelers.
The Fury will count on the deft passing and soft hands of leading scorer Ashley Beattie and the fine touch of players such as Holly Carrie-Mattimore to counter a high-powered Steelers attack which led all North teams with 126 goals for during the regular season.
The series began Mar. 8.
SSAC battles St. Albert
At press time, the South Side Athletic Club’s Don Wheaton squad were set to take the ice in Game 4 of their best-of-five championship series against the St. Albert Crusaders in the Rural and Edmonton Midget Hockey League.
The Crusaders finished first overall in the REMHL’s regular season, two points better than SSAC Lakewood Chev and three points ahead of Don Wheaton. However, heading into Game 4, Don Wheaton had a chance to end the series thanks to back-to-back wins in Games 2 and 3.
REMHL Midget action
In the REMHL’s Midget 15-Year-Old division the Canadian Athletic Club had jumped out to a 1-0 series lead in their best-of-five semi-final series against the St. Albert Flyers. In the other semi-final Fort Saskatchewan dropped Sherwood Park 4-0 in Game 1.
In Federation Hockey’s top divisions the Novice Warriors and the St. Albert Junior Raiders were tied with 4-1 records and in Peewee the St. Albert Junior Saints were well on their way to a playoff championship thanks to a perfect 8-0 record in the round robin tournament. At press time the other age groups had yet to begin their playoff season |