The Alberta Junior Hockey League announced today the schedule for the North Division Semi-Final between the Fort McMurray Oil Barons and Sherwood Park Crusaders. The series will begin on March 7th in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The Round Two schedule for the 2012 AJHL Enerflex Cup Playoffs is now complete, including four series in total.
The Fort McMurray Oil Barons finished 2nd in the North Division and 3rd overall with 98 points in the regular season. The Oil Barons swept the Grande Prairie Storm in Round One to advance to the North Division Semi-Final. On Saturday night, the Crusaders eliminated the Bonnyville Pontiacs in Game 5 of the opening round series. The Crusaders completed the 2011-2012 regular season with 78 points, 4th in the AJHL North Division. Fort McMurray won the regular season series with a 5-1 record in six meetings between the Crusaders and Oil Barons this year.
Fort McMurray Oil Barons (2) vs. Sherwood Park Crusaders (3)
- Game 1 March 7, 2012 Fort McMurray 8:00 PM
- Game 2 March 8, 2012 Fort McMurray 8:00PM
- Game 3 March 10, 2012 Sherwood Park 7:00 PM
- Game 4 March 11, 2012 Sherwood Park 7:00 PM
- Game 5* March 14, 2012 Fort McMurray 8:00 PM
- Game 6* March 16, 2012 Sherwood Park 7:00 PM
- Game 7* March 18, 2012 Fort McMurray 8:00 PM
* if necessary
All series in Round Two are best-of-seven with the highest ranked seed awarded home ice advantage. The South Division Semi-Finals will feature Brooks versus the Calgary Canucks and Okotoks vs. Olds. The North Division Semi-Finals include Spruce Grove vs. Drayton Valley and Fort McMurray vs. Sherwood Park. The complete playoff schedule is available on the AJHL website.
Round Two: March 6th – March 18th
The first place team will play the lowest place team remaining in their division and the next highest placed team will play the other team in a best-of-seven series. (1 vs. 4 & 2 vs. 3)
Round Three: League Semi-Finals – March 23rd – April 3rd
The remaining two teams in each division will playoff for the title of Division Champion and advance to the League Final. (1 vs. 4 & 2 vs. 3)
Round Four: League Final – April 6th – April 16th
The North Division Champion and the South Division Champion will compete in the League Final for the 2012 AJHL Enerflex Cup.
The 2012 AJHL Playoff Schedule, Playoff Bracket, and head to head stats for each series are available on the AJHL website www.AJHL.ca. Watch each game of the 2012 AJHL Playoffs live on AJHL Pay Per View at www.AJHL.ca.