SLOW START TO PLAYOFFS
Two of the three Grande Peace Athletic Club teams remaining in playoff hunts got off to tough starts in their respective post-season activity on Thursday. The third GPAC team in playoffs, the Dreger Racing Team Storm, start their post-season tonight.
In Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League play the GPAC Boston Pizza Storm fell 4-2 to the PAC Saints while the GPAC Peaceland Directional Drilling Storm were downed 5-3 by the Whitecourt Wolverines.
BP is involved in an eight-team tournament called the Cross Ice Development North Cup.
They are in the A Pool with the Saints, St. Albert Flyers and Fort Saskatchewan Rangers while Sherwood Park, Leduc, Lloydminster and Edmonton SSAC are in the B Pool. Top two teams from each pool advance.
Against the Saints, who GP had defeated in the final game of the regular season to get into the north championship playoff, Landon Hedges and Chase Jonzon scored. PAC had taken a 1-0 lead in the first and the teams were tied at 2-2 heading into the third.
The Storm and St. Albert squared off at 8:30 a.m. this morning and BP will finish up the round-robin with a game at 8:15 p.m. tonight against the Rangers.
In Whitecourt in the Northern Alberta Midget AA League Bouchier Division championship Peaceland got off to a slow start falling behind 3-0 in the first period. It was 4-2 going into the third.
Rylen Kleist, Tanner Davy and Tanner Vinck scored for GP.
Peaceland takes on the Fort McMurray Barons at 12:30 p.m. today and the Peace River Royals on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Winner of the four-team Bouchier Division championship will advance to the league semi-final.
The third GPAC playoff team is the Dreger Racing Team of the Edmonton Rural Bantam AA League.
They take on the Lakeland Panthers in a best-of-three Black-White playoff in Bonnyville. It starts at 7 p.m. Friday and continues at 2:45 p.m. Saturday and then again at 12:15 p.m. Sunday if needed.
