RED DEER – After 680 regular season contests, the AEHL U17 AAA division is set to drop the puck on the 2024 playoffs.
Sixteen of the league’s 20 teams are looking to be crowned league champions when the first set of games begin on Wednesday, March 13. The South East (SEAC) Tigers travel to Okotoks to face the Oilers and the Red Deer North Star Chiefs and Calgary Flames (NWCAA) do battle in Game 1 of their series at Winsport in Calgary.
The Flames were the league’s best team, posting a record of 33-3-1, good for 61 points. Calgary has gone 8-1-0-1 in its last 10 games and are looking to continue their dominance from the regular season where they posted a +95-goal differential. Knights of Columbus (KC) Centennials were the North Division leaders, posting 22 wins and 50 points. They were closely trailed by the LJAC Techmation Oil Kings and St. Albert Raiders Flyers who finished two and three points back respectively.
Dylan Westmann of the MLAC Beverly Optimist Leafs (65 points), LJAC Techmation Oil Kings Ordell Saddleback Jr. (57 points) and Mason Lowther (55 points) finished one, two and three in total points. Westmann led the league with 34 goals in 33 games. The Calgary Flames goaltending duo put on a clinic this season with Matthew Macfie and Sergio Davidson finishing one-two in wins with 17 and 13. Davidson also had the league’s best goals-against-average at 1.59 while Jaxson Hosegood of the Airdrie Cannex Avalanche finished with the best save percentage at .938. Archer Cooke of the Calgary Royals finished with four shutouts.
All series are best-of-three. Matchups are as follows:
North Division Quarterfinals
Knights of Columbus (KC) Centennials vs Parkland (PAC) Saints
LJAC Techmation Oil Kings vs South Side (SSAC) United Cycle Bulldogs
St. Albert Raiders Flyers vs MLAC Beverly Optimist Leafs
Sherwood Park Squires vs Canadian (CAC) Gregg Distribution
South Division Quarterfinals
Calgary Flames (NWCAA) vs Red Deer North Star Chiefs
Airdrie Cannex Avalanche vs Calgary Bulls (CBHA)
Calgary Northstars vs Calgary Royals
Okotoks Oilers vs South East (SEAC) Tigers
For complete schedules and links to the FloHockey broadcasts, check out the Playoffs tab on the U17 AAA website.