Muskie hockey teams open playoffs tonight

After almost four months of Muskie hockey, it’s finally here.
It’s playoff time.
The Muskie boys’ hockey team will host the Kenora Broncos tonight at 7:15 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena to open their best-of-three NorWOSSA semi-final series.
Game 2 is slated Sunday night in Kenora, with Game 3, if necessary, back here Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
The winner will advance to meet the winner of the other semi-final series, which pits the first-place Dryden Eagles against the fourth-place Red Lake Rams.
The black-and-gold finished in second place with a 12-4-1-1 mark, including a 5-3 win Monday night over the third-place Broncos (5-11-1-1) in Kenora to close out the regular season.
“It’s going to be a tough series,” Muskie head coach Shane Bliss has said after Monday’s win. “I think Kenora was a little flat today, and they were short-staffed, too.
“They had some guys nursing injuries, so when you see them [Friday night], you’re going to see them loaded up and they’re going to be brining it,” he warned.
“These three-game series scare me because they are so short,” Bliss admitted. “It favours the underdog because there is no pressure on them.”
One question that still hasn’t been answered yet is who is going to be tonight’s starting goalie for the Muskies, who sport three on their roster—Wade Friesen (who has been with the team since the start of the season), Jason Green (who joined the team last month), and Dedrik Brueggeman (who joined a few weeks ago).
“We’re going to play all three of them, and play with two forwards and one defenceman,” Bliss smiled.
Brueggeman was in goal for Monday night’s win in Kenora, where he allowed three goals on 17 shots.
Meanwhile, the Muskie girls’ hockey team begins the playoffs this evening in Dryden, where they are facing the second-place Eagles in the first game of their best-of-three semi-final series.
Game 2 is slated for Sunday at 3:45 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena, with Game 3, if necessary, back in Dryden on Tuesday.
The winner will meet the first-place—and undefeated—Kenora Broncos in the best-of-three NorWOSSA final.
The Muskie girls are coming off a 1-11 regular-season campaign, with that lone win coming against the Eagles (a 2-1 victory back on Feb. 15).
“We’ve been trying to build the kids to have them ready for playoffs,” noted head coach Lynn Kellar. “There should be a lot of nerves, but the veterans really have to come forward and help them out.”