The Apex Automation Lakeland College Rustlers women’s ice hockey team does battle with the SAIT Trojans at the Russ Robertson last weekend. The Rustlers host the NAIT Ooks this weekend in their final two home games of the regular season. Meridian Source File Photo
It all boils down to two final games and playoff implications are on the line.
The Apex Automation Lakeland College Rustlers women’s ice hockey team wants to pack the Russ Robertson this weekend as they host the NAIT Ooks in their final two regular-season games of the year.
The Rustlers (19-4-1), under the direction of head coach Morgan Mann, had a stellar January recording three wins and one loss before an undefeated February with six straight wins.
The ladies started the month with a threepeat weekend over the SAIT Trojans, besting them 2-0 on Feb. 2, 6-1 on Feb. 3 and 6-3 on Feb. 4. The Rustlers were in Medicine Hat the following weekend where they racked up points over the Rattlers with big 9-0, 9-1 and 11-1 wins.
Mann explained the team is looking at this weekend as the final push, and unlike Whose Line Is It Anyway, every point matters.
“They’re two league games, but we’re trying to prepare for them as if they’re playoff games because they have playoff implications for us,” said Mann.
“If we can get a point out of the weekend, that’ll put us in first for the year. It’s a nice achievement to finish first, but it would also give us a home-ice advantage in our barn with our fans, which would be nice to have going into the playoffs. It’s a big weekend.”
If all goes well this weekend, the Rustlers will face the fourth-place SAIT Trojans (9-14-2) in the first round of Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference post-season action, but Mann isn’t counting chickens, yet.
“We’re certainly hopeful for a point this weekend, and we’re doing everything we can to prepare for it,” he said.
“NAIT’s a tough opponent; a really tough opponent and have played us tough. For whatever reason, we’ve had good success against Red Deer this year. Of the top three teams, it’s a saw-off, so a point isn’t guaranteed, by any means.”
The puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Russ Robertson on Friday and Saturday night.
Following the team’s action-packed two days of gameplay, they’re hosting a “Celebration of Hockey” event at Bud Miller All Seasons Park in partnership with the Boundary Ford Gives Foundation.
From 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, the Rustlers invite anyone and everyone to play some old-fashioned shinny hockey on Bud Miller’s frozen pond.
There will be music pumping throughout the afternoon as well as a weiner roast.
“Boundary Ford Gives does a lot of great things in the community and we’re sure glad to be involved with them,” said Mann.
“We think this is a really appropriate way to do something in the community at the grassroots level, so we’re inviting everyone to come play some shinny hockey on the pond. It’s very simple and it’s open to everybody, boys, girls, young and old.”
