The arena ice in most Northwest communities is either out or soon to be out for the season, as hockey is all but over in the province for provincial and league playoffs.
There are still a few communities that have a shot at provincial titles and by the end of March everything will be completed. There is one senior team, one bantam team and two peewee teams in Northwest who still have a chance at a provincial championship.
The Maidstone Jets have beat Shellbrook, Kindersley, St, Walburg and Bruno to advance to the senior A provincial against Balgonie.
Maidstone won on home ice Sunday by a 3-2 margin thanks to two quick goals in the third period. One more win will help crown the Jets provincial champions.
The Midwest Rage are 5-0-1 in the bantam B provincial draw and are now playing in the provincial final. The Rage beat Unity 7-1 and 11-1 in their first round of provincials. Next, the Rage tied Meadow Lake 3-3, but won 5-0 in game two to advance to the northern final. Midwest downed Melfort 7-4 and 10-5 to qualify for the final were they are set to play Redvers.
Redvers enters the final after outscoring their three opponents 34-13. Midwest outscored their opponents 43-12.
Peewee A is down to the Battlefords Barons against Yorkton and game one of the provincial final is set for Friday in North Battleford. The Barons beat LLRIB 19-12 in the northern final to advance to the championship series. Yorkton beat Weyburn 10-2 in game one of their first round and didn't have to play game two. In the second round for Yorkton they battled Swift Current to a 4-2 win and 4-3 loss to advance to the final.
At the peewee B level, Unity has positioned themselves in the final two and lead the championship series 7-2 after winning game one against Prairie Storm. Unity beat Martensville in the first round by 3-2 scores both games. From there, the Lazers beat Kindersley 7-2 and 7-1. In the northern final, Unity continued their unbeaten streak with a 9-4 and 6-2 win over Spiritwood.
Unity will be on the road for game two hoping to hold the five-goal lead and claim the provincial title.
