Fourteen friggin' years.
How is that even possible?
In a conference consisting of only six teams, where five make the post-season every year, how is it possible to go 14 years without two particular teams facing each other in a playoff series?
Your guess is as good as mine, but regardless, fans in Estevan and Weyburn will finally get what they have waited a long time to see: a seven-game series between the hated rivals.
Now, granted, the teams don't exactly come into this on even footing, with the Red Wings finishing first in the Sherwood Conference and the Bruins placing fourth, needing to win a survivor series to get this far.
Still, as we all know, regular season success means very little at this time of year.
There is an argument to be made for the survivor series being a good thing for the lower seed.
Rather than having a two-week break, the Bruins have been tested by Notre Dame in a difficult three-game series, making them, as the theory goes, more sharp for the Weyburn series. The Wings, meanwhile, will need to make sure they eliminate any rust quickly after a long layoff.
Sometimes this scenario pans out for the lower seed, such as two years ago when La Ronge and Yorkton each won the survivor series and reached the league final.
But as Bruins fans are well aware from last year's playoffs, when they squeaked out a thrilling survivor series win over Melville only to be pancaked by Yorkton, it often does not.
My only advice for this series would be to sit back, enjoy the hockey, relish the bad blood and throw away the numbers.
Facing a veteran Weyburn team will be a great learning experience for the Bruins' many younger players, but make no mistake, they're looking for more than moral victories here.
Regardless of the winner on the ice, this series will be a huge breadwinner for both organizations.
You can bet the executives of both clubs are hoping for a long series in order to maximize the amount of revenue.
Both Spectra Place and Crescent Point Place will surely be packed, which means more money at the gate and huge 50/50 draws.
For the Bruins, a long series would turn an excellent year into an astronomically successful one on the balance sheet.
On top of that, playing Weyburn means reduced bus costs and no hotel bills.
The Yorkton Terriers and Melville Millionaires should also rake in the cash as the two Highway 10 rivals go head-to-head in the other Sherwood semifinal.
It has only been two years since the Terriers and Mils faced off in the playoffs, but a series between two storied rivals only half an hour apart is always a recipe for huge crowds.
Josh Lewis can be reached by phone at 634-2654, by e-mail at [email protected], on Twitter at twitter.com/joshlewis306 or on his Bruins blog at estevanmercury.ca/bruinsbanter. He is expecting Rick Nash to be placed on injured reserve any day now after being thoroughly run over by bus driver Scott Howson on Monday.
