Taylor Weaver Meridian Source Photo
The Lakeland College King’s Energy Group Rustlers Hockey Club is one round away from bringing home a championship.
After snaring the Edmonton Wolves in the second round of Alberta Junior Female Hockey League (AJFHL) playoff action, the Rustlers (19-4-0-1) earned their way to the finals against the Lethbridge Eagles (20-8-1-9) of the AJFHL south.
“This is the league provincial final and we’re pretty excited,” said Rustlers head coach Morgan Mann.
The AJFHL final consists of a best-of-five series, which starts at the Russ Robertson this Saturday at 7:15 p.m. Game 2 of the series will also be played at the Russ on Sunday; puck drop is at 3:15 p.m.
“We have home-ice-advantage because we had a better winning percentage than Lethbridge. If the Cochrane Chaos had beat Lethbridge, we would be playing them, and they hadn’t lost since October. But, Lethbridge is super strong, too, and are obviously playing really good hockey right now to knock Cochrane out.”
The Rustlers will then make their way to Lethbridge for Games 3 and 4, scheduled on March 19 at 4 p.m. and March 20 at 11:30 a.m.
If Game 5 is needed, it will be played at the Russ on March 26 at 7:15 p.m.
This being the team’s inaugural season, Mann noted there has been a strong fanbase throughout the year, regardless of whether it’s a home game or not.
“The games have a family-feel fan base. It is a lot of families, relatives and neighbours coming to the games,” he said.
“But it seems personal, to the point where our fan base has really grown when we go on the road. We have some really loyal fans, and that’s made it that much more rewarding, playing in front of people that have taken a real interest in you.
“We’re hoping to get the biggest crowd we can this weekend and rock the Russ.”
