Every game is meaningful this weekend...either for the Lightning Cup regular season championship or for playoff positions. How to the Forum posters see the weekend series...???

both visitors in the west will lose, changing nothing in the standings and setting up a Kit/Haz and Ter/PR playoff.
in the east, Smi will sweep WL fairly easily, 7-3 and 8-2, taking top spot in the league and opening the door for the Ice to move up, which they will with a split with HOU in Vanderhoof, leaving HOU in 2nd and Omineca moving into 3rd, so both will be previews of the 1st round playoff matchups.

Agree that Smithers will take both games in Williams Lake as they seem to be clicking pretty well right now, and Vanderhoof/Houston is a real toss-up.

In the west, Terrace has beaten Hazelton every time they've played and seem to have their number. They've played five times and Terrace has won all of them while outscoring Hazelton 32-15 (I'm all about the research). Despite what some have insinuated on the board, or say they heard from Terrace management, I don't see Terrace losing at home in their last game of the season - especially coming off a loss in front of a huge home crowd two weeks ago.

Kitimat is going to come out guns blazing to up the odds of repeating as league champs, but they can't overlook a Rampage team that is much better than it was when Kitimat squeaked out a 5-4 win when the two met in early December. The Stava brothers have been on a real roll in the last three games, Curtis Cardinal has added another dimension to the team, Movold is still standing on his head and the team as a whole has come along way so far this season. Couple that with the Rampage's desire to lock up a meeting with Terrace in the first round of the playoffs (and the brutal rivalry those two teams have formed) and you could be looking at an upset.

Should be an awesome weekend, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

It will go, maybe not the way I would like...

Wolverines vs The Kings
And important game like this one, the Wolverines will be in Terrace with the best Line-up of the year, if not, they will loose and face the mighty Demons in round one of the play-offs. Win and they will play The Queens and win their first playoff series.

Rampage vs Demons
This is going to be a close one, Tinsel town boys are still stinging from the Queens. I don't think the addition of one player for the Rampage, Cardinal is enough to beat the Demons, but they will get 2 more tries in the first round of the playoffs.

Luckies vs Ice
With the Ice addition of Guy Walsh in net, I think this could be a team to reckon with.(will he get his five games in?)Two similar teams, I think goal tending determines who wins these games. If Kenzel is hot and Blair keeps his cool and stays in the game, they might split, if not I think the Ice will win 2 close ones.

Stampeders vs Steelheads
This is a match up of many important out comes, If the Stamps win one game, and the Luckies loose both their games, then the Stamps would play the Ice in the first round, and the Steelheads would host the Luckies. If the Steelheads win both games, then the Steelheads will host the Stampeders or Ice in the first round, and also win the Lightning Cup for the first time. I Think. Steelheads win to close ones.

Houston(9-7-0) @ Omineca(8-8-0): The Ice seem to be gaining momentum having finally gotten back to .500 and with the addition of Guy Walsh they finally have a legitimate number 1 goalie. Houston comes into town having won just 4 of thier last nine, but have also finally gotten healthy and seem to be back to full stregth. Houston will want these games bad to try and clinch home ice while Omineca will be trying to get out of the basement and earn a date with either Williams Lake or Houston who they have had much more success against then Smithers. I'm predicting a solid goaltending battle between Walsh and Kenzel in game 1 with the Luckies edging the Ice 3-2 and with the Ice coming back Sunday 4-1.

Williams Lake(8-7-1) @ Smithers(13-3-0): The Stamps will be limping thier way into Smithers having lost 3 of thier last 4 and missing afew key guys due to injury, while the Steelheads will be itching to clinch the Lightening Cup at home and earn home ice in front of the home town crowd. The Stampeders will be trying to maintain thier third place spot and possibly move up into second, but with Smithers already dominating them in Williams Lake it will be a tough challenge. With Francis Johnson still gunning for the league scoring title the Stamps may need him to be at his best, while Jamie Deba and the Smithers defence will have to shut him down to make sure there is no upset in Smithers this weekend. Smithers 5-4 in a shoot out saturday and 6-4 Sunday.

Prince Rupert(3-11-3) @ Kitimat(13-3-1): The Rampage come into Kitimat determined to earn a meeting with Terrace in the first round, while the Ice Demons know they must win and get help to grab another Lightening Cup, but both teams will likely bring thier "A" game to Tamitik on Saturday. With Curtis Cardinal in the line-up the Rampage finally have a go to guy in the offensive zone and should be able to get to the Kitimat goaltending with thier size, but the speed of the Ice Demons on thier home ice will likely be to much and unless Kieth Movold stands on his head the Demons will win. This will be a good test before the playoff to see if the inexperienced Rampage can stay composed for 60 minutes in a playoff type game. I say it will be another learning experience for the young club and the Demons win 6-3.

Hazelton(4-13-0) @ Terrace(8-7-2): The Wolverines come in having thier 4 game winning streak ended abruptly by a pair of lopsided losses in Vanderhoof, but will be playing a team who is struggling themselves. The Kings come in having just won 2 of thier last 10 and limping into the playoffs. If Hazelton can get a good start and put some pressure on the Kings then they may get a win in Terrace, but if the Kings jump out to an early lead it will be lights out for the fragile Wolverines. I think the 'rines make a statement in this game against a Terrace team with nothing to play for and win 5-3.