Devils still between Stampede and final

THE Stampede will have to go the long way round if it is to win the Birgel Cup this year.

Another New Zealand Ice Hockey League title — which seemed a good bet after the first few weeks — will now have to be earned the hard way by the Queenstown team.

The final week of the league’s regular season featured the results the Stampede did not want.

The West Auckland Admirals posted backtoback wins over the Canterbury Red Devils.

A 50 walloping — featuring, unusually, five different goalscorers and five different assist makers — on Saturday night was followed by a tense 32 win on Sunday night.

It meant the Admirals topped the NZIHL standings after the regular season.

They finished on 34 points from 10 wins, one overtime win, two overtime losses, and three losses.

A single point behind was the Stampede, which had a record of 9223.

Another mark of the parity between the teams was that both had a goal difference of plus20.

The Red Devils (25 points) finished third, ahead of the Botany Swarm (21) and Dunedin Thunder (7).

Remarkably, three outcomes — the Admirals hosting the final, the Admirals hosting the semifinal, the Admirals having to go to Christchurch for a semifinal — were at play before the final round.

What it means now is the Stampede will host the Red Devils in the NZIHL semifinals on Friday and Saturday.

That is not a bad matchup for the Stampede, which won three of the four clashes between the teams this season.

The most recent form is with the Red Devils, however — they beat the Stampede 43 in Queenstown on August 20.