Playoff hockey returns to NDCC Arena as Saints host SFU in BCIHL Final
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Playoff hockey is returning to the NDCC Arena.
Only the home team will not be wearing Green and White.
The Selkirk Saints will be the new home team as the squad opens the BCIHL best-of-three championship Friday in the NDCC Arena against Simon Fraser University.
The venue move was necessary after Castlegar Rebels defeated the Beaver Valley Nitehawks Wednesday night in Game seven of the KIJHL Murdoch Division Finals.
The Rebels now advance to the Kootenay Conference Final which begins Friday in Castlegar.
Nelson hosts Games one and two of the best-of-three series.
Puck drop is 7:30 p..m. both nights.
However, if a Game three is needed it will be played Sunday in the Castlegar Recreation Complex at 6 p.m.
The Saints enter the Finals as the BCIHL’s top-ranked team after finishing first in the regular season standings with a record of 21 wins and 3 losses.
Selkirk, advancing to the final after defeating defending champion UVIC last weekend in Castlegar, set records for both wins and points this season and picked up victories in all four games against SFU.
But the second-place Clan is no pushover, as their roster features a number of former WHL and BCHL players including goaltender Graeme Gordon, who led the Vernon Vipers to a National Championship in 2010, and former Trail Smoke Eaters sniper Nick Sandor.
SFU placed four players in the Top-10 in league scoring and outscored Thompson Rivers University 11-3 in a first-round series sweep last weekend.
The games in Nelson will represent a homecoming for Saints forward Connor McLaughlin, who was a member of the Nelson Leafs’ 2009 KIJHL championship-winning squad.
He spent three seasons in the Green and White, appearing in 136 games.
Tickets for Games 1 and 2 in Nelson and Game 3 in Castlegar will be available at the door on game night or in advance from Mallard’s Source for Sports or the gymnasium at Selkirk’s Castlegar Campus.
Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors, children and Selkirk College students and staff.
