REGINA, SK – Game 7s.
They are what hockey dreams are made of.
They make heroes and memories. They haunt the dreams of the vanquished and are the substance of nostalgia for the victors forever.
Now in Round 2 of the 2026 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Playoffs, presented by UPL, we are going to be blessed with two in one night.
Wednesday, Apr. 15, 2026, will be the first time since 2005 that two Game 7s will decide the league’s semifinal series, and like on that day, it will involve the Battlefords North Stars and Yorkton Terriers.
Unlike that day, those two franchises cannot both be winners, as in that season, the Stars downed the La Ronge Ice Wolves, and the Terriers the Estevan Bruins. Tomorrow, they will battle each other.
The other series in our present day will be solved at Flin Flon’s historic Whitney Forum, as the Weyburn Red Wings will either return to the Canterra Seeds Cup for the second year in a row, or the Bombers will reach the championship round for the fourth time in five years.
Battlefords North Stars @ Yorkton Terriers
Westland Arena | Yorkton, SK | 7:00 P.M. ST
Neither team has seized home-ice advantage in this series, with each club taking two of three on the road.
The Battlefords North Stars’ special teams have kept them in games, as they sit atop the postseason power play rankings with a 23.3% clip on 10 goals in 43 opportunities, and are second on the penalty kill at 85.5%.
Coach Connor Logan is the only coach to have started both of his goalies in Round 2, and while his two – Kaeden Serpa and Spencer Michnik – do not have flashy numbers, they have made the key save at the key moment in all three of their wins.
SUNY-Plattsburgh NCAA Division III commit Alessio Nardelli leads all SJHLers in power-play goals with four. In contrast, fellow Stars veteran Josh Knittig leads the league in man-advantage helpers with six.
Knittig also leads the SJHL playoffs in scoring with 20 points through 11 contests.
Yorkton’s high-powered offence has finally exploded, producing 13 goals in their last two wins, both on the road in Games 4 and 6. They head home for Game 7 full of confidence after putting in five in a row in yesterday’s Game 6, in which they rallied from down 3-1 6:23 into the second period.
Yorkton local Jye Zawatsky has been a lot for the Stars to handle this series, turning goalscorer (he has four of his five goals this post-season vs. Battlefords), after he was more the provider in Round 1.
The Terriers organization last played a Game 7 on March 29, 2022, when they completed a Round 1 upset of the Melfort Mustangs. They have not had a Game 7 at home since April 11, 2010, a contest which ended in defeat to the visiting La Ronge Ice Wolves.
Battlefords’ last Game 7 was March 26, 2019, a home win to the Flin Flon Bombers that ended an epic Round 1 series in which the Bombers almost rallied from down 3-0.
Weyburn Red Wings @ Flin Flon Bombers
Whitney Forum | Flin Flon, MB | 7:30 P.M. CDT
This series has been replete with wild momentum swings.
These two powerhouse clubs have traded home blowouts in the last three contests, with the hosts outscoring the guests 15-4.
Weyburn’s Game 1 win back on April 3 was the first regulation loss for the Bombers at the Whitney Forum all year, and Flin Flon has since outscored the Red Wings 11-3 in Game 2 and 5 victories.
As is so often the case when two teams are so evenly matched, goaltending is at the heart of the small margins.
Weyburn’s Joey Rocha bounced back in Game 6 Monday in a big way after a tough Game 5. He made 31 often difficult stops, and kept Coach Cody Mapes’ men in front long enough to let the brilliant Josh Sale catch fire and erupt for his first career post-season hat trick.
On the other side, fellow 20-year-old Charlie Tritt, the LSSU NCAA DI commit, has hardly put a foot wrong in Bomber maroon, posting a 1.93 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage through nine playoff contests.
Still, the Bombers had plenty of chances, with two breakaways and a penalty shot that all failed to turn into goals off the stick of young forward Daniel Morozov, who was sublime yet unlucky on the night. Forward Jack Martin also hit a post, and truly, the scoreboard could have looked very different if either goalie had been off his respective game.
Surely the travel for the away team has added fatigue to the equation – there are 800 or so kilometres between the two clubs – but in one win or go-home game, all bets are off.
Wednesday is certain to be stressful for those with a skin in the game, but also a day that will no doubt go down as one of the most epic in SJHL history.
Get your tickets now, if there are any left, or get yourself an O16, a Phantom beverage, or your comfort potable of choice, and be ready to tune in on FloHockey for a night that is sure to go down in the lore of our league.
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