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Open B ringette provincials in St. Albert and midget AA playoff showdown between Crusaders and Blues

Open B ringette provincials in St. Albert and midget AA playoff showdown between Crusaders and Blues
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SCREENED – Dawson Laycock, captain of the St. Albert Blues, and Kache Waskahat of the Lakeland Panthers block the view of netminder Kyle Nelson during action in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League. Friday the Blues (14-14-4) and St. Albert Source for Sports Crusaders (26-4-2) face off at 8 p.m. at Go Auto Arena in the Besa division playoff tournament. The Crusaders, the defending league champions, were 2-0-1 against the Blues in league play.

Open B ringette

The Ringette Alberta open B championship starts with a bang Friday at Servus Credit Union Place.

The pool A opener between the St. Albert Stealth (19-7-4) and St. Albert Edge (22-3-1) starts at 7:15 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena.

Head-to-head, the teams settled for a 4-4 draw in October while one of the two Edge wins was 6-1 in January.

The Stealth, the tournament hosts, also plays Saturday at 8:30 a.m. against South No. 3 at Mark Messier and 5 p.m. against South No. 2 at Go Auto Arena.

The Edge is in action Saturday against South No. 2 at 9:45 a.m. at Go Auto and 3:45 p.m. against South No. 3 at Mark Messier.

Pool B consists of the Riviere Qui Barre Twisters, Medicine Hat, Fulton Fury of Edmonton and South No. 3. Sunday at Troy Murray Arena, the semifinals are 8:15 and 9:45 a.m. and the bronze-medal game is 2:15 p.m.

The gold-medal final is 2 p.m. at Go Auto.

The open B division is 18-plus and the majority of players have lengthy ringette experience. The oldest skater on the Edge, a second-year open B team, is 22-year-old Erica Tosto while the Stealth’s age range is 28 to 38 with Bri Plewes the elder statesperson.

The rebranded Stealth have 14 players back from last year’s provincial championship 24-12-3 Senior B’s team. Brandy Hanson, a returnee, sniped the overtime winner in the final with 6.7 seconds left in the second extra period for the 2-1 victory over Calgary Blaze in Calgary.

Midget AA clash

Highlighting the Besa division playoff tournament in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League is the St. Albert showdown Friday between the Source for Sports Crusaders and Blues.

Faceoff is 8 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.

The Crusaders (26-4-2, 144 GF/66 GA), last year’s playoff champions, finished first overall in the NAMHL and the Blues (14-14-4, 109 GF/107 GA) placed fifth in the Besa standings.

In league play, the Crusaders posted wins of 8-2 in the season opener and 6-1 Jan. 8 against the Blues and the teams battled to a 1-1 draw Nov. 16.

The Crusaders and Blues have four tournament games scheduled to determine the Besa rep in the best-of-three Metro conference series against the Anderson division playoff winner.

The Sturgeon Sting (20-10-2, 143 GF/109 GA) are ranked second in the Besa division and Saturday’s game against the Blues is 3 p.m. at Sherwood Park.

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