A Chiefs skater follows the play during a game earlier this season. (Willow Cree Chiefs/Facebook)A Chiefs skater follows the play during a game earlier this season. (Willow Cree Chiefs/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

Senior Hockey

Chiefs, Flames on verge of advancing to TRHL finals

Feb 23, 2024 | 3:00 PM

The Twin River Hockey League (TRHL) finals are on the horizon for a pair of teams on the cusp of advancing to the final dance.

Both of the best-of-five semifinal series sits at 2-0, with the Willow Cree Chiefs up on the Rosthern Wheat Kings in the West while the Allan Flames are leading the Birch Hills Blackhawks in the East.

Willow Cree Chiefs (1) vs Rosthern Wheat Kings (2)

With the Wheat Kings backs against the wall, the Chiefs are looking to advance to the TRHL finals after missing their shot last season in the semifinals.

The back-to-back regular season champions finished the year at 13-3-0 (W-L-OTL) and find themselves in the same spot as they were a year ago, only they were up 2-0 over the Dalmeny Sabres. Willow Cree had the upper hand outscoring Dalmeny 8-1 in the first two games and had all the momentum in game three, but the Sabres managed to prevail 3-2 in overtime which turned the tides of the series leading to the Chiefs dropping the next two games and the series to Dalmeny, 3-2.

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Now entering Friday’s game, Willow Cree is back on the verge of a finals berth, only this time against a hungry Rosthern team. The Wheat Kings finished one game back of the Chiefs in the regular season and are looking to get back to the TRHL finals for the first time since 2019. Since 2017, minus the 2021 season because of the pandemic, Rosthern has made the finals three times where they lost every time three games to one.

The Wheat Kings and Chiefs met twice during the regular season with both teams splitting the series. If Rosthern prevails at Beardy’s Memorial Arena on Friday, the Wheat Kings will have to win again on Saturday night in Rosthern to force a win or go home game five, which has yet to be scheduled.

Birch Hills Blackhawks (1) vs Allan Flames (2)

Meanwhile, in the East, the number one Blackhawks are looking to go to their fourth consecutive TRHL finals, but in order to do that they will have to dig themselves out of a deep hole that the number two Allan Flames put them in.

The Blackhawks are on the cusp of not making the finals for the first time since 2019 when they lost to Rosthern 3-1 in the semis. Since then, Birch Hills hasn’t looked back with three straight finals appearances and one league title to go along with it in 2022. This past season, the Hawks managed a 9-4-3 record finishing just one point ahead of Allan to clinch the top spot in the East.

That being said, the Flames logged a 10-6-0 record in the regular season and have gone to work so far in the playoffs. In their previous two seasons in the playoffs, Allan has just one win in four games losing out in the first round each time. Now, the Flames are one win away from advancing to their first TRHL finals.

Allan has gotten the better of Birch Hills each time they have met this season, having also won both of their regular-season matchups. The Flames are also undefeated in the playoffs as they swept Clavet in round one. If the Blackhawks survive at home on Friday, they’ll have to pull out the stops again on Saturday in Allan.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com