Porcupine Plain Blues (Submitted photo/Duane Thorpe)

By Ben Tompkins

Playoffs, what you talking about playoffs?

Wheatland Senior Hockey League playoffs begin

Feb 10, 2023 | 5:00 PM

The regular season is officially over and playoffs are now upon us.

The Wheatland Senior Hockey League’s (WSHL) first round of the postseason, is beginning this Friday (Feb. 10).

Friday at 8:30 p.m. the puck will drop on quarter-final action, as the Porcupine Plain Blues host the Hudson Bay Hunters and the Bruno T-Birds host the Tisdale Ramblers.

Duane Thorpe, team manager of the Porcupine Plains squad, spoke on behalf of the league as he told northeastNOW about the excitement that’s filling the air.

“Well, it’s basically a new season, so I’m sure everybody’s up for it… it’s the talk of the towns for sure, and I’m sure all the games will be packed.”

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The WSHL is comprised of six teams in total, with the other two being the Craik Warriors and the St. Brieux/Lake Lenore Rivals.

They finished first and second in the league standings, which earned them a bye to the semi-finals.

The 12-3 Warriors will host the winner with the least amount of points from the quarter-finals, while the 11-3-1 Rivals will host the other winner.

Meanwhile, the 11-4 Ramblers have earned the right to host two of the possible three games against the 0-15 T-Birds, and the 5-7-3 Blues have earned that same right against the 6-8-1 Hunters because they had the better head-to-head record.

Game 2 between the Blues and Hunters goes Saturday at 8 p.m. (Feb. 11) in Hudson Bay, while game 3 (if necessary) will go next Sunday at 4 p.m. (Feb. 19) in Porcupine Plain.

And, game 2 between the Ramblers and T-Birds goes Thursday at 8:45 p.m. (Feb. 16) in Tisdale, while game 3 (if necessary) will go next Sunday at 4:15 p.m. (Feb. 19) in Tisdale, as well.

Each series has two weeks maximum to complete, with the first series being only three games, while the next series (semis), and the finals, each being a five-game set.

With so many games in such a short period of time, Thorpe mentioned it can be difficult to have the same lineups every game, something which has seemed to be a problem all year.

“I think every team kinda goes through the same thing, I don’t think we’ve had the same lineup more than one game this year. This week it’ll be the same thing, we’ll have our 17 guys, and there’ll be mixing guys from here and there,” he said.

“For us, we have actually a guy who drives all the way from Lloydminster every weekend to play, we have guys in Saskatoon, Regina, kids going to school, it’s senior hockey, it’s like that everywhere, but it’s great. Those kids come home and play and that keeps our rinks going.”

But, whoever’s in the lineup, there’s one thing for certain, it’s time to get focused and get down to business.

In a final statement, Thorpe mentioned the keys to success, for anyone in this league.

“I think for every team, they just have to go out there and play their systems. One little mistake here or there isn’t the end of the world. We got 60 minutes to play this one period at a time, and we’ll just go from there. As long as guys stay focused, they’ll be fine.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8