The Brooks Bandits and Spruce Grove Saints have taken full advantage of home ice advantage, with two consecutive wins and a 2-0 series lead in the Division Finals.
The Saints defeated the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in game two of the North Division Final in front of 1,100 fans at the Grant Fuhr Arena. Joel Miller once again played strong game making 22 saves. Williamson, Richard, Lazowski, and Spurrell were the goal scorers for the Saints. Lazowski leads the Saints in post-season scoring with 11 points in 6 games.
The Saints have extended their perfect playoff record to 6-0. Fort McMurray will be loooking to change history – the Saints defeated the Oil Barons in the 2011 North Division Championship with a 4 game sweep and moved on to capture the 2011 AJHL Enerflex Cup.
The Fort McMurray Oil Barons will host Games 3 & 4 of the series on Monday and Tuesday night.
The Brooks Bandits blew past the Olds Grizzlys with a 7-1 win on Friday, but needed overtime to get the job done on Saturday. The series now shifts to Olds for Games 3 & 4 on Monday and Tuesday.
The Bandits won Game Two with a 4-3 OT victory, and pleased the hometown crowd of 1,720. Goal getters for the Bandits were game star Matt Wilkins, RJ Reed and Maddison Smiley. The Bandits game star was Matt Wilkins, who had the game winning goal just 3.27 in overtime. Shots on net were 51-27 for the Bandits with Jan Obernesser in net for the win.
The winner of the South Division Final will claim the title of 2012 Division Champion and advance to the 2012 AJHL Enerflex Cup League Final versus the North Division Champion. The Olds Grizzlys last advanced to the AJHL Final in 1994-1995; an appearance in the League Final would be a first for the Bandits organization.
The 2012 AJHL Playoff Schedule, Playoff Bracket, and head to head stats for each series are available on the AJHL website. Watch each game of the 2012 AJHL Playoffs live on AJHL Pay Per View!