The Canadians opened the double knock-out tournament with a 5-4 victory over the Little Black Bear Blues at Kaplan Field in Regina on Wednesday, advancing to the ‘A’ semifinal against the Golden Hawks.
Interestingly enough, the Canadians -- who finished fourth in the six-team league with a 5-6-1 record -- were the only squad to take a game off Golden (11-1-0) in the regular season, winning 1-0 at Memorial Field back on June 29. The Hawks won their other match-up 6-3 on June 25.
The Moose Jaw Giants also now know who they’ll be facing in their ‘A’ semifinal match-up.
That would be the Standing Buffalo Dakotas, who won their first-round game 6-4 over the Earl Grey Rockets on Wednesday.
Standing Buffalo finished in sixth with a 3-8-2 record, with one of their ties coming on June 24, a 1-1 draw with the Giants at Rambler Park. The two teams rematched on July 8 in Regina, with Moose Jaw taking a 7-2 victory.
The Giants finished the season with an 8-2-2 record, earning a first-round bye.
Both ‘A’ semifinal games are slated for Monday, Aug. 16.
The winners of those two games will advance to the ‘A’ final. Tthe loser of Golden and the Canadians will drop down to the ‘B’ side and take on Earl Grey, the loser of the Giants and Standing Buffalo will face Little Black Bear. Both those games are slated for Wednesday, Aug. 18.
