The Siksika Buffaloes are heading into game three of a best of five series in the first round of playoffs in the Ranchland Hockey League.

The team is down two games to the Nanton Palominoes. Game three will take place at the Deerfoot Sportsplex on Saturday March 12.

General Manager of the team Jason Doore spoke about how the team has played in the regular season. “We finished third overall. It was a tight race for the regular season."

He explained there was one team in the league that played exhibition games through the season as they were a AAA team and so points gained during those games didn’t count towards the playoffs.

In terms of the series against Nanton he said, “We were just running into a hot goalie from Nanton and I think the. boys are doing enough to win a game, it's just that we have to go to the drawing board and figure out if we're going change anything. but I believe the boys all playing very well.”

“It's just a little minor thing that we need to tighten up and hopefully win three in a row and move on,” he said.

With these next two games at home, the coach thinks the home crowd will make a difference.

“I think it's always the home barn that kind of makes the home team push harder, and try harder with that extra support,” said Doore.

He explained that Saturday will also be a special game for the team as they will be honouring a past supporter and fan of the Buffaloes. The Siksika Buffaloes will be honouring a Siksika member who recently passed away, Mardi BroadScalplock.

“She was a big fan of our Buffaloes and she supported us well. We are also recognizing that, domestic violence has no place in our community,” he said.

All attendees are asked to wear purple to assist in bringing some awareness to Domestic Violence.

According to Siksika Nation, Mardi was a huge supporter of the Siksika Buffaloes Sr. AA hockey organization; her three brother's are all alumni and she currently has a nephew who is on the active roster. Our community has been hit hard with this loss as she had many friends and also comes from a huge family.

Games 3 and 4 of the series will take place at the Deerfoot Sportsplex on March 12th and 13th with the final of the series scheduled for March 18 at the Tom Hornecker Recreation Centre.