The KIJHL regular season is winding down with the Eddie Mountain Division taking part in their second last weekend of the regular season, as the Rockies and Thunder Cats can still determine the final seeding for the playoffs.
Although the Kimberley Dynamiters, Fernie Ghostriders, Columbia Valley Rockies, and Creston Valley Thunder Cats have all secured their place in the KIJHL playoffs, the third and fourth seeds could still change hands, affecting the first round matchups.
Kimberley is locked in as the division’s top seed and could still finish as the KIJHL’s best with two games remaining. Fernie is also locked in as the division’s second seed and will take on the third seed in the first round of the playoffs. Currently, Columbia Valley sits third in the division with 51 points and two games remaining, while Creston Valley is fourth with 47 points but has three games remaining.
After this coming week and weekend, the playoff seeds will be determined, but there was still a handful of games over the Family Day long weekend that shaped the current playoff picture.
The Creston Valley Thunder Cats officially secured their spot in the playoffs last Thursday with a 4-3 victory over the Grand Forks Border Bruins, although the team would go on to lost 3-1 and 4-1 to the Nelson Leafs and Castlegar Rebels on Friday and Saturday.
The Columbia Valley Rockies dropped both of their weekend matches, losing 6-1 to the Kimberley Dynamiters on Friday before a 5-2 loss at home on Saturday to the Fernie Ghostriders. Kimberley and Fernie would also play the Spokane Braves over the weekend, with the Dynamiters blanking the Braves 4-0 on Sunday, while the Ghostriders edged Spokane 3-2 in overtime on Friday.
Eliminated from playoff contention, the Golden Rockets had just one game over the long weekend as they defeated the Spokane Braves 7-2 from Golden Arena on Saturday night.
Looking ahead, the Creston Valley Thunder Cats take on the Golden Rockets at 7:30 pm MST on Tuesday from Creston’s Johnny Bucyk Arena before the final weekend of the KIJHL regular season.
Creston then matches up with the Kimberley Dynamiters at 7:00 pm MST on Friday from the Civic Centre before travelling to Castlegar on Saturday for a 7:00 pm PST matchup with the Rebels. The Columbia Valley Rockies host the Golden Rockets at 7:30 pm MST at Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena on Friday ahead of their showdown on Saturday with the Fernie Ghostriders at 7:30 pm MST from Fernie Memorial Arena.
The remaining games on the schedule see Fernie and Kimberley host the Grand Forks Border Bruins, as Grand Forks will first take on the Ghostriders at 7:30 pm MST at Fernie Memorial Arena before Saturday’s 7:00 pm MST matchup with the Dynamiters at the Civic Centre.
The first round of the KIJHL playoffs will begin Friday, February 28th with two best-of-seven series in each division, eventually leading to the Division Finals, Conference Finals, and the Teck Cup. The winner of the Teck Cup will be the 2019/2020 KIJHL Champion and will move on to represent the league at the Cyclone Taylor Cup in 100 Mile House on April 16th in hopes of capturing the coveted BC Junior B Championship.
Eddie Mountain Division Standings
| TEAM | GP | W | L | T | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | DIFF | STR |
| zyx Kimberley Dynamiters | 47 | 38 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 79 | 191 | 107 | 84 | W2 |
| x Fernie Ghostriders | 47 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 67 | 199 | 139 | 60 | W3 |
| x Columbia Valley Rockies | 47 | 22 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 51 | 156 | 143 | 13 | L4 |
| x Creston Valley Thunder Cats | 46 | 20 | 19 | 1 | 6 | 47 | 151 | 179 | -28 | L2 |
| Golden Rockets | 46 | 18 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 149 | 169 | -20 | W1 |
z = Clinched Conference, y = Clinched Division, x = Clinched Playoffs