It will be a battle between the top two teams for the honours of hoisting the Canalta Cup in 2017.
Thanks to a 3-0 win at home in Game 7 against the Nipawin Hawks Tuesday night, the Flin Flon Bombers and Battlefords North Stars will begin their best-of-seven series for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League championship Friday night in a 7:30 p.m. battle at the Civic Centre.
The full schedule for the series was announced Wednesday morning, with Game 2 taking place Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in North Battleford.
The series will then shift to Flin Flon for a pair of games at the Whitney Forum Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 7:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. in North Battleford).
If necessary, a fifth game will be held in North Battleford Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m., while a sixth meeting the two sides would take place in Flin Flon Sunday, April 23.
The Civic Centre would play host to a seventh and deciding contest, if required, Tuesday, April 25.
After going down 3-1 to their Sherwood Division rivals, the Bombers rattled off three straight wins over to Hawks to make their second straight trip to the finals.
They opened up the playoffs with a five-game win over the Notre Dame Hounds.
The North Stars have won all eight of their playoff games over the Weyburn Red Wings and Estevan Bruins, but have yet to take to the ice in a competitive contest since a 6-1 triumph in Estevan last Tuesday.
In the regular season series, the North Stars won three out of four meetings with the Bombers, although both sides haven’t faced each other since December.
A year ago, the Bombers defeated the North Stars in five games in the semifinal before they fell to the Melfort Mustangs in six games.
The North Stars last picked up a playoff series win over the Bombers back in 2006, when they won a semifinal matchup in five games.
No matter who wins the final, a lengthy title drought will end.
The North Stars’ only league championship came in 2000 while the Bombers haven’t hoisted the Canalta Cup since winning it for the first time in 1993.
The winner of the series will also represent the SJHL at the Western Canada Cup tournament in Penticton, B.C. from April 29 to May 5.
The host Vees and the Chilliwack Chiefs will square off in the British Columbia Hockey League final starting Friday, with both teams having already clinched a spot in the Western Canada Cup.
The Alberta Junior Hockey League final also gets underway Friday, as the defending champion Brooks Bandits will face the Whitecourt Wolverines.
The OCN Blizzard holds a 2-0 advantage over the Portage Terriers in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League final, with the third game in the best-of-seven series taking place Wednesday in Portage.
The top two teams in the Western Canada Cup will then go on to take part in the Royal Bank Cup for a chance to win the national Junior A hockey championship.
That tournament will be held in Cobourg, Ont. from May 13-21.
