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The Melfort Mustangs and Nipawin Hawks will meet 10 times throughout the regular season. (Facebook/Broad Leaf Media)
SJHL Schedule

SJHL releases 2019/2020 regular season schedule

Jul 4, 2019 | 5:00 PM

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) opens its regular season Sept. 13, 2019.

The season remains a 58-game schedule with each team playing 29 games at home and 29 on the road, including one home and one away game in Warman at the SJHL Showcase.

Rivalry Renewed

It won’t take very long for one of the best SJHL rivalries to heat up once again. The Melfort Mustangs and Nipawin Hawks are set to battle in a home and home to start the season on Sept. 13 and 14 in Nipawin and Melfort respectively. The rivals will play a total of 10 times through the season, all of which will be weekend home and home sets. The Hawks and Mustangs will then finish the season with a home and home series on Feb. 28 and 29. The Sherwood Division foes will also bookend the Christmas and New Years holidays as they meet on Dec. 20 and 21 and then again on Jan. 3 and 4.

Finals Rematch

The Melfort Mustangs fell in the SJHL Final in the 2018/2019 season to the Battlefords North Stars, and the two teams will have to wait until October for their first of four meetings. Oct. 9 in Melfort will be the first time the Mustangs can exact revenge. They’ll meet again in November in North Battleford for Melfort’s first trip there since falling in game five.

First-Round Payback

The Nipawin Hawks were the number one seed in last years playoffs, but bowed out in seven games to the eighth-seeded Yorkton Terriers. The Hawks will need to wait a while before a shot at the team that upset them in the playoffs. The two will meet for the first of four meetings on Nov. 5 in Nipawin will be the first time they see each other since the thrilling game seven last year. They meet in Yorkton for the first time on Dec. 17.

In the Division

The Sherwood Division is always one of the tougher divisions in the SJHL with the Mustangs, Hawks, and Flin Flon Bombers all seeming to be near the top every year, and the La Ronge Ice Wolves who’ve added a new head coach and seem to be on the upswing. The Mustangs will take on the Bombers six times throughout the season, with the first meeting coming in Flin Flon on Oct. 29. Melfort will see the Ice Wolves eight time over the season, with meeting number one coming on Sept. 17.

As for the Nipawin Hawks, they will see the Bombers eight times, and the Ice Wolves six times. The first meeting against La Ronge will come on Sept. 20 in La Ronge. The Bombers and Hawks will meet for the first time on Sept. 28.

Warman Showcase

Each team in the league will converge on Warman between Sept. 22 and 25 for the SJHL Showcase with scouts from all over coming to check out the talent the SJHL has to offer. Every SJHL team will have two games. For Melfort, the will play the Notre Dame Hounds on Sept. 22 at 1 p.m., and the Yorkton Terriers at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24. The Nipawin Hawks will also get a meeting with the Hounds. That will come on Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. Nipawin will finish up their showcase at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24 when they take on the Melville Millionaires.

The Mustangs and Hawks’ 58 game schedules feature 24 games within their division as previously mentioned, along with 18 games in the Global Ag Risk Solutions Division, and 12 in the Viterra Division. The trade deadline will take place, as always, on January 10.

mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6

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