The Meota Combines look to get their fourth straight league title as they take on the Neilburg Monarchs in the SPHL Championship (Byron Hildebrand/Facebook).

By Austin Mattes

SPHL Finals

Combines have eyes on fourth straight title as Monarchs clinch final for the first time

Feb 28, 2025 | 6:00 AM

After sweeping the #1 ranked Battlefords Beaver Blues in the semi-finals, the Meota Combines now have a chance to grab their fourth straight Sask Praire Hockey League (SPHL) title as get ready to take on the Neilburg Monarchs in the championship series.

This is Neilburg’s first time making the finals in the SPHL and it came after they beat the #2 ranked Turtleford Tigers in the semi-final series three games to one.

Neilburg is one of the newest additions to the SPHL, joining the league in 2022 from the Sask Alta Senior Hockey League. In their first season, the Monarchs lost in the quarter-finals and then last season, made it to the semi-finals and lost.

Now after a successful first couple of playoff rounds this season, Monarchs’s Assistant Coach Shawn Hein is hopeful the team can take the next step and win the championship.

“We’re an up-and-coming team, the core of our team is young and every year we’ve kind of been taking the next step. We believe that we have the core, and we do think that we have a championship caliber team. We just have to play our game and have some good games ahead of us,” he said.

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During the regular season, the Monarchs had the number of the Combines, taking both matchups against them 10-3 and 5-2, but despite the convincing wins, Hein expects the Combines to bring their best this time around.

“We did beat them both times, but they didn’t necessarily have a full roster. In the playoffs, they have their best players and that’s when they’re pulling and ready to rock’n’roll, and as you can tell by their previous championships, they know how to win,” said Hein.

Since the last meeting between the two on Jan. 10, the Combines have been on a tear, winning five straight to end the regular season and now they haven’t lost a game in the playoffs.

Combines forward, Aaron Cadrin said that their last loss to Neilburg was a much-needed eye-opener.

“After that loss, we looked at ourselves in the mirror and said we need a little bit more commitment on and off the ice, we know what it takes to be successful in this league and we really turned things around after that,” he said.

With the chance now to get their fourth title in a row, the Combines have no shortage of experience to make it happen as they have been in this position before. That being said though, Cadrin said the team’s focus is on their play on the ice, not the accolades behind them.

“We know what it takes to win a long playoff series. We have a good group of veterans and we’ve been through this many times before and obviously the streak is cool and all, but it’s completely meaningless once the puck drops, your only as good as your next shift, and that’s kind of how we approach all our games now,” said Cadrin.

The series gets started on Friday, Feb. 28 with Game 1 at the Neilburg Arena with puck drop at 8:30 p.m.

Go to the SPHL website to see the full schedule for the series.

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Ausitn.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes