Innisfail, Lacombe & Camrose battling this weekend for NCHL’s top seed

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“This is exactly the type of game you want heading into the playoffs,” says Eagles head coach and general manager, Ryan Dodd, who believes it’ll be a full house of close to 1,000 fans.

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“The standings are tight and nothing is locked in yet. Every team is fighting for position, and Saturday night is no exception. Lacombe is always tough, and we know it’s going to be a battle. Our focus is finishing the regular season the right way in front of our home fans and building momentum no matter where the bracket shakes out. There’s a very real chance we see these guys again and we want to be ready.”

It’s possible there could be a three-way tie points-wise to end the regular season: that is if Lacombe gets two points and Innisfail gets none, combined with Camrose getting nothing in their matchup with Morinville.

Tiebreakers are as follows: wins in the season, most wins between teams, most goals scored, fewer goals allowed, and goal differential.

On the first tiebreaker: Camrose and Lacombe are one win behind Innisfail, so each winning would tie the Eagles’ win total.

On the second tiebreaker, Innisfail dispatched Lacombe 6-4 on Nov. 1 in their only meeting of the season thus far, so a win would tie the season series. Camrose and Innisfail already split their season series. Lacombe beat Camrose in both games this season.

On goals scored, Lacombe has the advantage with 100, to Innisfail’s 90, and Camrose’s 83.

On goals allowed, both Camrose and Lacombe are at 51, with Innisfail at 52.

And on goal differential, Lacombe has the advantage at +49, with Innisfail at +38 and Camrose at +32.

Simply put: Should Camrose win as expected, Innisfail must win to top the league standings, or else Camrose would be #1. For Lacombe to finish #1, they’d have to win over Innisfail in regulation and hope the 0-15 Morinville squad upsets 11-2 Camrose in regulation.

Innisfail, which has bounced around leagues at different levels of senior men’s hockey, is the defending Vanberg Cup champion, with Lacombe having topped the regular season standings a year ago. Innisfail beat Lacombe to win the title last year.

Lacombe won the Vanberg Cup in 2024 (vs. Devon) and 2023 (vs. Red Deer), with Camrose winning in 2022 (vs. Lacombe).