Huskies face Lumber Barons in finals rematch

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. —  Will the 2024-25 Strike Group North West Junior Hockey League (NWJHL) finals be a case of repeat or revenge?

In a rematch of last season, the Fort St. John Huskies face the La Crete Lumber Barons in the championship finals.

The Huskies lost in five games to La Crete in last season’s best-of-seven series, robbing the Pups of a fifth consecutive championship and a spot at the provincials.

Fort St. John comes in riding a seven-game playoff win streak with consecutive series sweeps versus the Fairview  Flyers and Dawson Creek Kodiaks, while La Crete finished off Beaverlodge in six games in the Northern Express North/South division finals last weekend.

Huskies’ head coach Todd Alexander said his club is lined up “better” and it should prove advantageous when facing the Lumber Barons, who split four games this season with the Huskies.

“Obviously they’re a good opponent,” said Alexander. “[I think] our club this year is a little bit more rugged [and] our culture is a bit tighter.

“[Players’] roles and guys understanding them in the situations we place them in [is better]. Last season, we were a bit disoriented on those things.”

The Huskies had five starters nursing injuries before team captain Grayden Alexander and starting goalie Ethan Fechter went down in the club’s second-round series versus Dawson Creek.

Alexander confirmed both players will be “ready to go” when the puck drops this weekend.

However, the biggest surprise when the schedule was released on March 11th was that Fort St. John will start the NWJHL finals away from home, as La Crete—despite finishing the regular season two points behind Fort St. John—will host games one and two.

Although he called the move “unprecedented”, Alexander would not comment further. 

League president Peter Burletoff told Energeticcity.ca in a statement the “current unbalanced regular season schedule was taken into consideration,” with it being determined the “head to head record of the two division champions” to determine home ice advantage.

Despite the series split, La Crete outscored Fort St. John by a score of 16 to 12 through their four regular-season meetings. 

The NWJHL finals begin on Saturday, March 15th at the Raymond Knelsen Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m. mountain time (6:00 p.m. local time).

Game two will take place on Sunday, March 16th at 12:00 p.m. mountain time. 

Games three and four will be held at the North Peace Arena on Friday, March 21st, and Saturday, March 22nd. The games will start at 7:00 p.m. on both nights.

Further information about the Huskies is available on the team’s website, Facebook and Instagram pages.