Bo Eisner and Will Munro of Swan River, along with the rest of the Melfort Mustangs, have returned to the playoffs at the Centennial Cup.
At the Max Bell Centre in Calgary, the Mustangs finished second in Group B with eight points. Two regulation wins, one in overtime, and one defeat. The team's lone defeat came in their first game. The host Calgary Canucks scored one goal in each period in a 3-1 victory. The Canucks finished atop Group B and have advanced to Saturday's semifinals.
Bo, Will, and the Mustangs took care of business in their next three games, against Edmundston, Rockland, and Braves de Valleyfield. Bo had one goal and two assists in the round-robin while Munro had one goal and one assist.
Melfort will enter the quarterfinal as heavy favourites. After advancing to the national final last year, they'll play the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League champion Greater Sudbury Cubs on Friday.
The Northern Manitoba Blizzard, meanwhile, picked the worst time to give up the most goals they have since March 7. That's when they gave up six against the Steinbach Pistons. On Wednesday, they had a chance to clinch first place in Group A. They needed a win in regulation.
They did not get it. The Grande Prairie Storm, previously eliminated from playoff contention after Greater Sudbury beat Kam River earlier in the day, played an inspired game and went out with a bang. They lit up the Blizzard for six goals in a 6-3 win. They chased co-playoff MVP Taye Timmerman after just 35 minutes. He made 13 saves and gave up five goals.
With two regulation wins, one overtime loss, and one regulation loss, the Blizzard finish second in Group A. They have a much tougher route to the national final. They'll play the powerhouse Rockland Nationals on Friday in a quarterfinal. While the Nationals finished third in Group B, that was the group of death. They finished behind two other powerhouses in Melfort and the host Canucks.
FULL PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:
QF - Northern Manitoba Blizzard vs Rockland Nationals
QF - Greater Sudbury Cubs vs Melfort Mustangs
SF - Trenton Golden Hawks vs TBD
SF - Calgary Canucks vs TBD
CF - TBD vs TBD
