Despite losing in regulation to the Ghostriders on Saturday night, the Rockies playoff hopes have brightened.

As the playoff race has tightened up in the Eddie Mountain Division of the KIJHL, Columbia Valley is neck-and-neck with Golden – and only one team will make the playoffs. The Rockies have 31 points, one more than the Rockets; however, the Rockets have one extra game to play.

The two teams will meet three times before the season’s end to decide which one moves on.

Columbia Valley and Golden are set to match up for three of their remaining seven and eight games, respectively, so the Rockies can be the team to shut down their rivals, rather than just hoping for Rocket failure.

There are 20 teams in the KIJHL – split by region into four divisions of five clubs. The top four teams in each division make the playoffs, giving 16 teams a berth. Columbia Valley is in the Eddie Mountain Division, along with Creston Valley, Kimberley, and Fernie, which have all clinched the playoffs. The only other team in the Eddie Mountain Division with the Rockies is the Golden Rockets, who are just as hungry for the final playoff position.

After their final home game of the regular season on Saturday, February 7th, the Rockies will embark on a four-game road trip.

In their four meetings so far this season, both teams have won two games each.

While Golden has an extra game to play, their season finale comes on Saturday, February 22nd against Columbia Valley. The Rockies will play again the next day against Creston Valley, which is leading the division, but can be expected to rest their big guns, as their first-place playoff seed is secure. The weekend prior, Creston Valley will be taking on Golden twice; the Rockies should hope that the Thunder Cats will have a full bench for those games.

After their loss to Fernie on Saturday, the Rockies have lost ten in a row, making them the current league leader in consecutive losses. The record would belong to Revelstoke, but that club just snapped their 18-game losing streak last Friday.

Up-to-date standings can always be found online at kijhl.ca under the “Statistics – Standings” tab.