Critical weekend coming up for leaders in CIHL East and West, but Ice are on the sidelines as Houston looks to surge

This will be a critical week for the leaders of both the CIHL East and Western Division as the number one and two teams in the west, the Kitimat Ice Demons and the Smithers Steelheads, clash in a Saturday-Sunday pair in Kitimat. The two teams played a pair of shoot-out ties in Smithers earlier in the season, with each team picking up the extra point in one game. Smithers trails the Ice Demons by four points, 16 to 12 with the Demons having a game to spare, with six left in their season, compared to Smithers’ five. The Ice Demons weren’t pleased with their rusty defensive play in Terrace last Saturday, winning only 4-2 with a 44 0 16 shot margin. But goals fort a against may be a key to this game, as Smithers have 48 for and 46 against, while Demons have 46 goals in the bank from two fewer games, but only 21 goals against total. Meanwhile, still in the east, Hazelton will be in Terrace, looking for its second regular time win of the season, after taking two points from a 4-0 win at home in Sunday’s game with 100 Mile House Bears. For Terrace this will be a must-win game, as they trail the Steelheads by two points, but still enjoy a two game bulge with seven games left in the season. There’s only one pair of games in the eastern division as the Houston Luckies travel to Williams Lake for the second set of back to back home and home series that may establish the playoff picture in the east. With the Luckies taking all four win points last weekend, with Williams Lake salting away a single point for Sunday’s 5-4 shootout loss point, the Stampeders are looking ‘ way up at the idle Omenica Ice, which now has 19 points from 13 games. Houston is at 14 from only nine contests and their big margin of games in hand could be key. Ice have already played 13 games and may have to rely on some help from the Stampeders to stay in front.

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