The round-robin portion of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 North Division playoffs wraps up this weekend with several Campbell River Tyees teams in the running to advance to the Vancouver Island semifinals.
The playoffs will determine the Island’s representative to provincial championships at the midget, bantam and peewee levels across three tiers.
The top two finishers in the North Division round-robin will advance to the semifinals, with the No. 1 team hosting the South’s No. 2 and the North’s runner-up traveling to face the South’s top seed in the semis.
The winners of the semifinals will meet in a best-of-three series to determine the Vancouver Island champion.
Campbell River’s Midget A Tyees are 2-0 in Tier 2 round-robin play and can clinch one of two semifinal berths with a home win Saturday at 1 p.m. against Comox. Wins in that game and in Sunday’s round-robin finale at Nanaimo would earn the Tyees top seed and a home date in the semifinals.
The Peewee A Tyees are also in strong position, carrying a 3-0 round-robin record into Sunday’s Tier 2 home finale against Nanaimo at 1:15 p.m. A win or a tie would clinch the team the top seed from the North, and the peewees could still advance with a loss depending on results of the weekend’s other games.
The Peewee B Tyees face a tougher road to the Tier 3 semifinals with an 0-1-1 round-robin record, but could put themselves in position to advance with wins in road games Saturday at Cowichan Valley and Sunday at Alberni Valley.
In the Bantam division, the Tyees A squad is 1-1 in the Tier 2 round-robin and also faces two road games — at Oceanside Saturday and at Comox at 1 p.m. Sunday. Powell River commands the division with a 3-0 mark, but the Tyees are in the hunt with the remaining teams for the second berth.
The Bantam B Tyees dropped a pair of heartbreaking, one-goal losses in their first two games, both at home, and will need to win on the road Saturday in Nanaimo and Sunday in Cowichan Valley to have a chance.
Meanwhile, the Tyees’ atom development teams will share host duties this weekend in a combined A and B tournament at Strathcona Gardens. Play begins for the Tyees Friday night and continues through the finals Monday morning as the club takes advantage of the Family Day long weekend.
