Willow Cree Chiefs netminder Nathan Dancy remains undefeated this season with a perfect 10-0-0 (W-L-OTL) record following round one of the Twin Rivers Hockey League playoffs. (Willow Cree Chiefs/Facebook)

By Logan Lehmann

Senior Hockey

Division finals of TRHL playoffs get underway Friday

Feb 21, 2025 | 2:00 PM

The second round of the Twin Rivers Hockey League (TRHL) is set to begin on Friday night.

The second round is also the divisional finals for the league where in the East, the league-best Allan Flames will go up against the defending champions Birch Hills Blackhawks. Meanwhile in the West, it’ll be a close to home battle between the Willow Cree Chiefs and the Rosthern Wheatkings.

East Final

Birch Hills is well on their way to making their fifth straight TRHL finals appearance following their two-game sweep of Bruno in the first round. The Blackhawks took the three-game series with 4-2 and 6-2 wins over the T-Birds, with Cole Jones leading the way with four goals in those two games for Birch Hills.

However, standing in their way of another finals berth are the Allan Flames who finished the regular season atop the standings, and are coming off a big game three win in round one.

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The Flames knocked off Cudworth in the opening round, taking game one 4-1 while holding the Tricky Maroons to just 15 shots. Game two was a back-and-forth battle with either side trading blows but ultimately, Cudworth emerged victorious behind the overtime heroics of Tanner Hendriks, giving the Tricky Maroons a much needed 5-4 win to tie the series.

After Allan went down 2-1 in the deciding game three, the Flames exploded for eight unanswered goals to sink Cudworth 9-2 and to take the series 2-1.

Birch Hills and Allan are familiar foes with both teams winning once against each other in the regular season, with the Flames winning 7-3 and the Blackhawks winning 7-4.

The divisional finals will be a best of five series, with game one slated for Sunday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. in Allan, while game two is set for Friday, Feb. 28 at 8:30 p.m. in Birch Hills. Games three, four*, and five* (*if necessary) have yet to be scheduled.

West Final

On the other side of the playoff bracket, Rosthern and Willow Cree will go head-to-head for the second straight season in the West final.

Looking back at last year’s West final, the Chiefs took a 2-0 series chokehold over the Wheaties before Rosthern stormed back, winning three straight games to steal the series, 3-2.

The two rivals finished tied for the top spot in the West, however Willow Cree was given the first seed as they ended the season with more wins and a record of 12-4-0 (W-L-OTL) while Rosthern ended at 10-2-4.

The Chiefs managed to sweep Dalmeny in round one winning 10-4 and 5-4. Trent Campbell led the team in points in the series despite only playing in game one, tallying two goals and four assists while Thien Gamble and Greg Cameron Jr. each finished the series with four points.

Meanwhile, Rosthern needed three games to get by Shellbrook in the first round. The Wheatkings managed a 5-2 game one win on home ice before the Elks avoided the sweep in game two with a 7-1 slap in the face.

Luckily, Rosthern was able to bounce back in game three at home with a 7-4 slashing to advance to the West finals. Brayden Anderson paved the way in the points department with eight in the series, notching four goals and assists while regular season scoring champion Ben Zultok netted six points (2G-4A) in round one.

Taking a look at the season series, the Chiefs have gotten the better of the Wheaties taking both contests 5-3 and 9-4.

The West Final is set to begin with game one on Friday, Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. at Beardy’s Memorial Arena. Game two will be on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Rosthern at 8:30 p.m. and game three will happen Saturday, Mar. 1 in Beardy’s. If necessary, game four is slated for Friday, Mar. 7 in Rosthern at 8:00 p.m., while game five has yet to be scheduled.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social