The Battlefords North Stars now know who they will be matched up against in the first round of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The top ranked team in the regular season standings will open up their best-of-seven quarter-final series at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at the Civic Centre, where they will be going up against the eighth-seeded Weyburn Red Wings.
Both teams will do battle again Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in North Battleford.
The series will then shift to Weyburn for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday night.
If needed, a fifth game would take place on Thursday, March 23 at the Civic Centre, while the Red Wings would host a sixth game on Saturday, March 25.
A seventh and deciding contest, if required, would be held in North Battleford on Monday, March 27.Â
That matchup was confirmed Tuesday evening, when the seventh-ranked Notre Dame Hounds won their opening round matchup with the 10th seeded and two-time defending champion Melfort Mustangs in four games.
The North Stars and Red Wings last met in the playoffs in the 2000 league final, which the North Stars won in seven games.
The regular season series between the two sides was split at two games apiece, with each team scoring eight goals in their four meetings.
Coby Downs led the North Stars in scoring with five points, while Braden Mellon led the way for the Red Wings with three points.
The Red Wings punched their ticket into the quarter-finals with a three-game sweep of the Kindersley Klippers.
Tickets for the North Stars and Red Wings series can be purchased at the North Stars office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. this week prior to Friday’s opener.
There will also be tickets avaliable from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday evening at the Civic Centre.
The other three best-of-seven quarter-final matchups in the SJHL will also get underway Friday night.
The second-seeded Flin Flon Bombers will host the Hounds, the third-ranked Estevan Bruins will take on the sixth-seeded Yorkton Terriers and the fourth-ranked Nipawin Hawks will do battle with the fifth-ranked Humboldt Broncos.
