Playoff action on tap for Mariners, Southwest Storm

There is ongoing, exciting playoff hockey action happening for hockey fans in this region.

The Yarmouth Jr. A Mariners will be playing the Summerside Western Capitals in the first round of MHL playoffs. During the regular season the two teams went 4-4 against each other.

This matchup was set on Sunday when the Pictou County Weeks Crushers won their final game of the regular season over the Valley Wildcats, which leapfrogged Pictou ahead of the Mariners in the standings and put Yarmouth in fourth place at the end of the regular season. Summerside had finished the regular season in first place.

Yarmouth’s first game with Summerside, who has home ice advantage for the series, will be Saturday. At this newspaper’s press deadline the schedule for the best-of-seven series had not yet been finalized but you can find it on the MHL website, along with the schedule for the Pictou-Amherst series, which will also be happening in the Eastlink South division.

In the Eastlink North division the matchups are Edmundston versus Fredericton and West Kent versus Miramichi.

In junior C action, the Southwest Storm – with back-to-back wins on the weekend, including a 6-1 win on Sunday in Game 5 – won its best-of-five playoff series against Spryfield.

The Storm now advances to round 2 of the playoffs versus the Sackville Knights. The scheduled was not confirmed at this newspaper’s press deadline earlier this week.

In the other Nova Scotia Regional Junior Hockey League playoff series, Eastern Shore will face East Hants.