By Derek Holtom /

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League is now down to the final two teams.

There have been some exciting moments in these playoffs, but through six series, there was not one Game 7, and only one Game 6.

There hasn’t been much drama, as the top two divisional winners have made short work of their opponents through two rounds.

So who will advance to the ANAVET Cup? Well, let’s see how the Winnipeg Saints and Dauphin Kings were able to make it this far.

Sherwood Division final
The Swan Valley Stampeders were the only team to beat the Dauphin Kings in four games in the regular season. That meant nothing when these teams met in the playoffs.
After a pair of 5-2 victories to open the series, the Kings laid a first-class whipping on the Stampeders in Game 3 with a 12-2 victory.
Down 3-0 in the serires, the Stampeders felt they had something to prove. And though they gave up eight powerplay chances, and only had two, they were able to slip past the Kings 3-2 to force a Game 5.
The Kings would clinch the series in five games. However, Swan Valley made it difficult, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game 3-3 in the second period. It wasn’t enough, though, as Dauphin’s Mitch Czibere scored the series-winning goal before the end of the period to put the RBC hosts into the third round of the playoffs.

Addison Division final
The Winkler Flyers had quite a series against the Selkirk Steelers, but they were not able to translate that into success against the Winnipeg Saints, bowing out in four straight games.
The Flyers were able to push the Saints to overtime in Game 3, but Craig Simchuk’s goal 2:33 into overtime allowed the Saints to crush Winkler’s attempt to get back into the series and take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
In Game 4, Cole Pruden scored twice, including the game winner with 1:41 remaining in the game, as the Saints edged the Flyers 3-2 to win the Addison Division title in Winkler’s barn.
The Saints now return to the MJHL final. They’ll need to win eight more games to not only advance to the RBC Championship, but to allow the MJHL to have two teams in the national championship.
The SJHL will be rooting for the Dauphin Kings. If Dauphin advances to the ANAVET Cup, the SJHL champion gets into the RBC Championship automatically.

Sherwood Division semifinal
The Dauphin Kings opened with a 4-0 series victory over the Neepawa Natives.
Though the Kings won the series in four straight, they were actually tested in a pair of games. After taking a 9-1 thumping in Game 1, the Natives held the Kings to only two goals in the first game in Neepawa. Too bad for Neepawa that Dauphin was able to limit the Natives to one goal for a 2-1 victory.
As well, in Game 4, the Kings actually trailed Neepawa by scores of 2-0 and 3-1. However, the high-powered Kings scored four unanswered to complete the sweep.
Steven Shamanski had three points in that clinching win for Dauphin, including the game winner
The other series saw the Swan Valley Stampeders finally knock off their divisional foe, the Portage Terriers. The two teams had met three times in playoffs, and each time the Terriers had beaten the Stampeders – twice in seven games and once in six games.
Swan Valley won this one in five games, jumping out to a 3-0 series lead with three straight one-goal victories.
Chris Reimer scored the overtime winner in Game 2 to put the Stampeders up 2-0 in the series, and Darcy Riddell scored a memorable goal in Game 3 in Portage, scoring the game winner with only 14 seconds remaining as the Stampeders erased a 4-0 second-period deficit for a 5-4 victory.
After they came out flat at home in Game 4, the Stampeders finished off the series in Game 5 with a convincing 6-1 victory in what will be the final playoff game in Portage’s Centennial Arena. The Terriers will move into their new arena next season, a facility at least as impressive as Dauphin’s new facility.

Addison Division final
The only Game 6 in these playoffs came in the Winkler-Selkirk series. Like the Stampeders, the Flyers had been flumoxed by the Steelers in recent years. But three straight overtime victories by the Flyers — all thanks to goals by Nick Lazorko — allowed the Flyers to beat the Steelers in six games.
One of Lazorko’s overtime winners came while the Flyers were shorthanded, making the performance that much more impressive.
The Flyers won the series on home ice, as they were the number-three seeded team. That means both No. 2 seeds fell in the opening round of the playoffs.
In the other series, the battle of Winnipeg turned into a showcase for Saints netminder Justin Leclerc, who only allowed six goals against in four games to lead his team to a sweep over the Winnipeg South Blues.
Leclerc, a late addition to the Saints from the WHL, has done little but win since coming to the MJHL, and he put on a clinic against the Blues.
So did the Saints penalty-kill unit. They defended every Winnipeg South Blues powerplay opportunity, giving them a 100 percent penalty kill success rate in the opening series.