Mitch Calvert
This should get interesting.
After sweeping the last-place Sioux Lookout Flyers in their best-of-five quarter-final series, the intensity has shot up several notches for the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres as they prepare for their best-of-seven semi-final showdown against the second-place Thunder Bay Bearcats.
The first two games go tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) at the Fort William First Nations Arena in Thunder Bay.
The series then will take almost a week-long break before resuming here for Games 3 and 4 next Saturday and Sunday (March 28-29) at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena.
“In appreciation to the Sabres’ season, we are calling out to our loyal fans to wear a ‘sea of red’ to our Games 3 and 4 to support the team in its quest for a second-round upset of the Thunder Bay Bearcats,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan enthused.
The six-day gap between games is due to the CIS men’s hockey championship taking place at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay on March 26-29—and the Bearcats’ desire not to go head-to-head with that competition for a possible Game 5 there.
Game 5, if necessary, would be back in Thunder Bay on Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. (EDT).
If the series is extended further, Game 6 would return to the Ice for Kids Arena on Thursday, April 2. A potential Game 7 would go Saturday, April 4 in Thunder Bay.
The winner will meet the victor of the other semi-final series, which pits the first-place Fort William North Stars against the fourth-place Schreiber Diesels, who blanked the Dryden Ice Dogs 5-0 last night to sweep their quarter-final series.
The season series between the Sabres and Bearcats featured plenty of bad blood—and the bar was raised even higher when the Thunder Bay squad acquired Fort Frances natives Brian White and Tyler Miller prior to Christmas.
The Bearcats held a 6-4 advantage in the season series, although the Sabres earned a 4-3 win in the final regular-season meeting between the teams back on Feb. 19.
