We are down to the final two teams in the SJHL as game one of the Canterra Seeds Cup will start tonight at the Whitney Forum.
It is fitting that the top two clubs from the regular season are left standing, the Yorkton Terriers and Flin Flon Bombers.
Flin Flon finished first overall with a record of 41-11-3-1 good for 86 points while the Terriers went 37-17-1-1 to finish second with 76 points. The Bombers took three of the four meetings head to head including both game at the Whitney Forum.
You can throw that out the window now, but I am sure the Bombers are happy to have home ice advantage. They certainly needed it in the last series.
Both teams are coming off tough 7 game series in the SJHL Semi Finals with the Bombers knocking off Weyburn in a thrilling 1 -0 win on Wednesday to win that series 4 games to 3.
Yorkton also needed 7 games to beat a good Battleford Stars team and won the clinching game 6 to 3 also on Wednesday.
These were the top two offensive teams in the regular season with Yorkton leading the way with 237 goals, while the Bombers were right behind with 234. Flin Flon prides themselves on their defense and led the league with 135 goals against while the Terriers gave up 171 goals which ranked them fifth overall.
This is a very intriguing series which will pit the high flying Terriers against a stingy Bomber defense. Head Coach and GM of the Bombers Mike Reagan says they are a lot more concerned about their defensively play as opposed to how many goals they can score, like he says defense wins championships. Just ask the Melfort Mustangs who have been the stingiest team the last two seasons which helped them produce back to back league titles.
Yorkton does have the best offensive line in the league with Gabriel Courchesne, Jye Zawatsky, William Leonard who lit it up in the regular season and so far in the playoffs and have combined for 48 points.
The Bombers continue to score by committee and only have two players in the top 20 in playoff scoring including Connor Miller and Reid Arberry who have 9 points a piece.
Flin Flon's game is defense and the SJHL Goalie Of The Year Charlie Tritt continues to shine and is fresh off his first playoff shutout, making 26 saves in the 1 to 0 win over Weyburn on Wednesday night. Tritt is 7-3 in the playoffs with a 1.74 GAA and Save % of .935.
Yorkton veteran goalie Callum Craig has also supplied his team with steller goaltending as well and is 8-5 with a 2.36 GAA and a Save % of .909.
Specialty teams will no doubt play a big part in this series and the Bombers are going to have to stay out of the box with Yorkton's powerplay flying at 21.6 %. Flin Flon does have the best PK at 87.5 %, but you don't want to give the Terriers a lot of chances. They have to many offensive weapons.
Fans in the Bomber Nation are very excited and continue to hope that maybe this will be their year as it is their fourth trip to the league final in 5 years and 6th time for Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan.
Flin Flon is still looking for that elusive first title since 1993. The Terriers are looking for their first league title since 2014.
Don't forget we will have every single game of the Canterra Seeds Cup Final on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com beginning with the first two games at the Whitney Forum this weekend tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 pm for Creighton Furniture. We kick off both broadcasts with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10.
