Willow Cree netminder Nathan Dancy follows the puck during a game earlier this season against the Clavet Cougars on Dec. 8, 2024. (Willow Cree Chiefs/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

Senior Hockey

TRHL playoffs heating up with both semi-final matchups heading to crucial game five

Mar 1, 2024 | 4:00 PM

The playoffs in the Twin Rivers Hockey League (TRHL) keep getting hotter and hotter.

After both of the best-of-five semi-final series were at 2-0, they now sit tied at two and are going to sudden-death game three where the winner will move on to the finals while the losers clean out their lockers for the season.

Willow Cree Chiefs (1) vs Rosthern Wheat Kings (3)

In the West, Willow Cree had the hold on Rosthern after winning games one and two and with their backs against the wall, the Wheat Kings managed to bear down and claw their way to back-to-back victories in games three and four to tie the series and force a do-or-die game five.

The Chiefs are in a spot they are all too familiar with as they face the same fate as they did one season ago. After they went up 2-0 in their semi-final matchup with the Dalmeny Sabres, Willow Cree blew the lead and ended up losing the series 3-2 where the Sabres went on to win the town’s first senior hockey championship in roughly 50 years.

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Fast forward a year later and the defending regular season champions are looking to avoid another upset, this time at the hands of their highway rivals, Rosthern, who have been hot over the last two games.

Despite dropping the first two contests, the Wheat Kings found their stride in games three and four to force game five. The first two games of the series saw the Chiefs outscore Rosthern 13-5 while the Wheat Kings returned the favour for the previous two, also outscoring Willow Cree by the same score.

The series-deciding game five is slated for Monday at the Beardy’s Memorial Arena with an 8:00 p.m. puck drop.

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

Meanwhile, the same story is shaping up in the East semi-finals.

Allan had the chance to advance to the finals after going up 2-0 however, Birch Hills decided to make things a little more difficult for the Flames as they managed to pull the series back even after prevailing in both game four and game five.

Following their 3-1 and 6-2 wins in games one and two, the Flames dropped games three and four to the Blackhawks who won 5-1 and 5-3. While Allan has not yet been to a league final, Birch Hills is looking to advance to their fifth championship in the last six seasons where they won two titles in 2018 and 2022.

With the season on the line, the battle for a TRHL finals berth is slated for Friday night at the Hesje Centre in Birch Hills with an 8:30 p.m. puck drop.

A full TRHL playoff bracket can be found by clicking here.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

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