This years PJHL (Pacific Junior B Hockey League) Championship begins Sunday March 18th at the Ladner Leisure Centre and is played between the Tom Shaw Conference Champions Delta Ice Hawks and Harold Brittain Conference Champions the Ridge Meadows Flames.

They sported a record 37 wins, 4 regulation losses with 3 O/T defeats in 44 games for 79 points while scoring 237 goals and allowing only 79 against this powerhouse squad.

The Ice Hawks swept the Steelers in the opening round (4-0) in the best of seven semi-final series then disposing of the Richmond Sockeyes in 4 games to 1 giving the Sockeyes the long awaited rest as they play host to the Cyclone Taylor Cup Championship April 12-15 at Richmond Minoru Arena.

Delta’s postseason record in 9 games is an impressive 8-1, scoring 28 goals allowing 13 against their opponents.

The Ridge Meadows Flames are 8-2 in postseason play with 49 goals for allowing only 34 in this years league playoffs.

For the Delta this marks the second consecutive season they have reaching the finals, but losing last year (2016-17) to the Kodiaks in an emotional 6 game series.

Ridge Meadows edged the Abbotsford Pilots by two points in the regular season (26-14-2-2) good for 56 points with 176 goals for allowing only 127 against.

The Flames eliminated the expansion Langley Trapper in the first round (4-1) advancing to play the second place Abbotsford Pilots making short work eliminating them in 5 games (4-1) advancing to this years PJHL Championship.

This year ironically marks the first in 20 years since the Flames have reached the final of the PJHL enjoying success this year in their first appearance since 1998 that saw them win the league title.

They continued to have success and went on to win the Keystone Cup in the same year a prestigious achievement for the franchise.

The series begins Sunday March 18th at the Leisure Centre with the face-off set for 7:35 pm.

Game two continues Tuesday (March 20th) also at the Leisure Centre before switching to Planet Ice in Ridge Meadows for games 3 and 4 next Friday and Sunday night.

If game 5 would be required it would see a return to Delta March 23rd (Tuesday), so look forward to  not only an exciting series, but also some stellar goaltending.

One reason is that the Ridge “tender” Cooper Anderson was the back- up to Delta’s Jordan Naylor, so they both have something to prove.

Naylor has played 539 minutes with a record of  8-1-0 through 9 games with 2 SO with a GA of 1.45, while Anderson has played only 2 games with a 0-1 record, while Paul Tucek has played 10 games with a 8-1 record for a GAA of 2.98.

All games are shown “live” on Delta TV – HD 610 at 7:30 pm.

Submitted by Bruce Nolte/Steve Erickson