The Battlefords AAA Sharks will renew acquaintances with the Swift Wildcats in the opening round of the Sask Female AAA playoffs. Pictured here, Sharks' forward Danika Dureau in action against Swift Current this season. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Secure Home Ice

AAA Sharks show bite heading into playoffs

Mar 7, 2024 | 8:57 AM

For the first time in over 17 years, the Battlefords AAA Sharks are set to open the playoffs this Saturday with home-ice advantage in their first-round series.

The Sharks enter the post-season having played their best hockey of the season as of late, having won six of their last nine games down the stretch of the regular season, to secure the fourth seed overall in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League (SFU18AAAHL) standings, with a 12-15-3 record, finishing just a single point back of third-place Notre Dame.

“We had a really good final month,” Sharks’ head coach, Nolan Horbach said. “We had kind of started at the end of January and rolled right through February with four big road wins, and we started just doing all the little things really well and focusing on the process. It’s nice to see the girls get some results from that.”

The Sharks’ success down the stretch came against a variety of opposition as well, with wins over Notre Dame, Weyburn, Swift Current, and Prince Albert, the latter of which served as an 8-1 victory over the Mann-Northway Northern Bears in the Battlefords’ final game of the regular season.

The Sharks will play the Swift Current Wildcats in their opening-round best-of-three series, a team that finished fifth overall in the league standings with an 8-17-5 record, reigniting what was a competitive season series between the two sides this year.

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“It seems like every game [we play against them] is a one-goal game or close to it, and right from the opening weekend of the season, they were all tight games,” Horbach said. “I think there was maybe one game where they beat us 4-1, so we know we have to be at our best; and in the playoffs, there’s no better time of year.”

First-year standout, Danika Dureau leads the Sharks’ offense into the post-season, after finishing second overall in rookie scoring this season with 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 30 games. At the other end, former AAA Shark, Alexie Palchinski paced the Wildcats in both goals (11) and points (29) in 28 games this season.

The series will also feature a showdown of a pair of workhorse goaltenders, as two of the three to have played over 1,100 minutes in the league this season.

Battlefords’ netminder Cypress Classen played 19 of her team’s 30 games, posting a 7-11-0 record with a 2.69 goals against average (sixth overall) and .928 save percentage (third). Swift Current’s Paige Fischer suited up for a league-high 23 games, with a 9-14-0 record to go with a 2.78 goals against average (seventh) and .910 save percentage (eighth).

Game 1 of the series will be played at Battleford Arena on Saturday, with puck drop at 5 p.m.

Sharks’ full first-round schedule:

Game 1: Sat., Mar. 9 at 5 p.m. at Battleford Arena

Game 2: Sun., Mar. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in Swift Current (S3 Arenas)

Game 3 (If necessary): Wed., Mar. 13 at 7 p.m. at Battleford Arena

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @MartyMartyPxP1