RANKING THE SJHL PLAYOFF TEAMS

1-La Ronge Ice Wolves
The Ice Wolves, last year's champions, are also the team to beat in 2011.  Their top line of Travis Eggum, Doug Lindensmith, and Marc-Andre Carre is the best this league has seen in many years.  The game plan against them will be to get physical and also to test Adam Bartko, who deferred to Joel Danyluk at the end of last year's magnificent run.


2-Yorkton Terriers
Last year's runner-ups are also the odds on favorites to get back to the final for the second year in a row, but there are question marks going into the postseason, namely the seriousness of injuries to top defenseman and captain Blaine Tendler as well as goalie Devin Peters.  Justin Buzzeo, Rob Ciolfi, and Zak Majkowski are other key players to miss time down the stretch.  If they aren't healthy, they are very vulnerable.


3-Kindersley Klippers
The Klippers went on a magnificent run from about the middle of December until the end of the regular season.  They have a tremendous amount of offensive skill and Sean Cahill solidified their issues in goal after coming over in a trade.  If it's true that defense wins championships, the blueline is going to get tested in a big way. 


4-Melfort Mustangs
There is a lot to like about this team, but they didn't show well at all in two late regular season meetings with La Ronge.  This group badly needs to win a playoff run so they can gain some confidence.  The offense is deep, the defense is big, and the goaltender (Charles Corsi) may be the best in the league.  


5-Flin Flon Bombers
Okay, this is probably way too high to put the Bombers; but here's how I see Flin Flon at the moment:  they have some of the best goaltending in the league and if they can score against the North Stars, they should come out of that series.  Physically, they match up well against La Ronge.  In short, they will sink or swim on the back of PJ Musico.


6-Humboldt Broncos
They'll play Melfort in their first round playoff series and the Broncos have a much better postseason history than that of their counterparts.  Still, questions remain in goal and this is a team that isn't supposed to win until next year.


7-Battlefords North Stars
The Stars-Bombers series should be one of the best 4th vs 5th series that we've seen in quite some time, maybe ever.  The Stars have had a goals-against issue all season long.  They've got enough talent on the roster to strike fear into some of the teams above them, but if they play La Ronge in the next round you can expect it to be a real track meet in order for the Stars to compete.


8-Weyburn Red Wings
The Wings don't have a ton of depth, there isn't a lot of flash on their defense, and their goaltending is steady but not spectacular.  Their overall play has had a lot of peaks and valleys this year.  Do they catch lightning in a bottle?  It would be a major upset for them to beat Kindersley, but the Klippers haven't faced adversity and may be vulnerable if the Wings can grab an early series lead.


9-Estevan Bruins
They are the most frustrating team to watch out of them all.  Loads of talent and year after year you keep looking at their make-up and thinking that maybe, just maybe, this will be their year.  They've got some proven champions on the roster and a clutch goalie (Joel Danyluk) when healthy.  It wouldn't surprise me to see them lose to Melville in three straight.  It also wouldn't surprise me to see them go all the way to the finals.


10-Melville Millionaires
It would surprise me to see these guys go to the final.  They lack offense, their defense is thrown together with underwhelming individuals that seem to play decently as a group, and Zack Rakochy is showing signs of being the elite goaltender he's capable of.  I'll give them a 50-50 chance of beating Estevan and close to no chance of getting by the Terriers.  They limped down the stretch and got into the playoffs only because Notre Dame couldn't win two of their final three.