photo courtesy EverythingGP

By Jeff Henson

NWJHL Final

NWJHL final between JDA Kings and Huskies kicks off in Fort St John

Mar 9, 2022 | 10:55 AM

The first NWJHL final since 2019 kicks off on Wednesday night, and it features a rematch of that 2019 championship series.

The Fort St John Huskies will face the County of Grande Prairie JDA Kings. The Huskies beat the Kings in six games in the 2019 final.

The Huskies were a league-best 38-2 this season, but Kings coach Kyle Chapple is confident that his club can do well against them.

“I get that they had a great season,” Chapple said. They are a good team and they are well-coached. But it is a different season now, and in the playoffs anything can happen.”

“We have full belief in our team that we can come in and play well and give ourselves a chance to win. We hope to get off to a good start in game one and start building that confidence and just go from there.”

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The Kings have been off since last Thursday when they defeated Sexsmith in six games in the semi-finals.

Chapple feels the time off before the final was good for his team.

“We needed a bit of a rest, as we have played quite a bit in a short amount of time during the first two series,” he added. “I think the guys are in a good mindset and we are just excited to get going and to see Fort St John.”

The Kings swept the North Peace Navigators in the opening round of the playoffs before taking out the Sexsmith Vipers, while Fort St John needed six games to eliminate Dawson Creek in the other semi-final.

The Huskies won all eight meetings this season against the Kings — with two of those wins coming in shootouts.

But Chapple says most of those games were early in the season, adding his team’s roster has changed significantly since after the Christmas break.

Three players remain from the Kings’ team that played in the 2019 final, and Chapple says the trio is looking for a much different result this time.

Game two of the series is set for Friday night at 8 pm at Crosslink County Sportsplex.