For the first time in more than a decade, the Portage College men’s hockey team has earned a playoff spot in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) league championships – and they’d love to hear from their fans.
The Voyageurs will host the Briercrest Clippers for three home games this Friday, Saturday – and if needed – Sunday, in the best of three quarterfinals. The games will all be played in Lac La Biche on the Voyageurs’ home ice at the Bold Centre.
“Let’s fill the rink and let’s really show our Voyageurs team spirit this week and weekend,” says Portage College Manager of Athletics and Recreation Jim Knight.
The opening playoff game for the Voyageurs is a Friday matinee, starting at 2 pm. The puck drop for Saturday’s game is at 7 pm, and Sunday’s game – if a decider is needed – is a 1pm start.
“Be respectful, be loud, bring friends …and help our Voyageurs through the playoff run.”
Jim Knight – Portage College Manager of Athletics and Recreation
The Voyageurs wrapped up the ACAC regular season last Saturday with a 5-2 win over Concordia, giving them 30 points and putting them in fourth place of the seven-team league. The Clippers finished the regular season just two points behind, in fifth place. Both teams finished the regular season with a 9-15 record, with the point difference coming from win and loss records in overtime games.
Knight is looking forward to an extremely competitive weekend of ACAC playoff hockey – something the Lac La Biche community hasn’t seen in 12 years.
“The last time our team made the playoffs was 2013/14,” he said. “This is a very special group of young men who have worked extremely hard for this opportunity to represent the college and the community.”
Entrance to the games is free, thanks to the sponsorship of Britton’s Your Independent Grocer in Lac La Biche. Knight hopes to see the Bold Centre seats filled.
“Be respectful, be loud, bring friends …and help our Voyageurs through the playoff run,” he said.
In the other quarterfinals matchup, Concordia is playing the NAIT Ooks in their best-of-three series. The winning teams of the quarterfinals will face the top two teams from the regular season, SAIT and Red Deer Polytechnic, in the semifinal best-of-three series that begins on the March 6 weekend. The best-of-five ACAC championship series begins on the March 13 weekend