The Big Six Hockey League’s 2019-20 regular season wrapped up Tuesday night when the Carlyle Cougars defeated the Yellow Grass Wheat Kings 5-3 in Carlyle.
The playoffs are scheduled to begin Thursday when the Arcola-Kisbey Combines visit the Kipling-Windthorst Oil Kings. (Results were not available at press time).
Arcola-Kisbey and Kipling-Windthorst finished eighth and ninth, respectively, during the regular season, and are playing in a two-game, total-goal series. Game 2 is Friday night in Arcola.
The winner of that series will face the top-seeded Redvers Rockets in the quarter-finals.
Redvers had the best record in the regular season with a 17-1 mark, and won their final 16 games. Arcola-Kisbey (2-15-1) was one point better than Kipling-Windthorst (2-16) during the season.
The Carnduff Red Devils (14-2-2) enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, and will face the seventh-seeded Midale Mustangs (7-11). That series will open Feb. 8 in Carnduff.
The defending champion Wheat Kings (11-6) are the No. 3 team, and will open their postseason on Feb. 7 when they face the sixth-seeded Wawota Flyers (8-9-1) in Yellow Grass. Game 2 is Feb. 9 back in Wawota.
The final series will pit the No. 4 Cougars (10-7-1) against the No. 5 Bienfait Coalers (10-8). Home ice advantage for that series wasn’t decided until Carlyle’s game with Yellow Grass, and the Cougars leapfrogged the Coalers for fourth with the win.
The final week of the regular season saw two games Jan. 31 and three more Feb. 1. Carlyle defeated Wawota 6-4 and Yellow Grass routed Kipling-Windthorst 9-3 on Jan. 31.
Midale upset Wawota 3-1, Redvers edged Bienfait 4-3 and Yellow Grass trounced Kipling-Windthorst 12-1 on Feb. 1.
The game between Redvers and Bienfait was just the second one-goal victory for the Rockets this season.
Kenton Miller of the Rockets was the league’s top scorer with 35 goals and 61 points this season, four points ahead of teammate Jordon Miller, who had 22 goals and 57 points. Nobody else in the league had more than 38 points.
Cody Matthewson of Redvers was the top goalie with a 2.22 goals against average, more than half a goal a game better than Cody Dumaine of Carnduff (2.74).
Redvers’ other goal, Thomas Bauche, had a perfect 9-0 record.
