The Lorette Comets and Springfield Xtreme meet Friday night in Ile des Chenes in game one of the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League's best-of-seven final.

The same two teams met almost two years ago to the day in Oakbank in game one of the 2019-2020 final.

The Xtreme defeated the Comets 6-3 in the series opener on Thursday, March 12th and the following day Hockey Manitoba cancelled all sanctioned games and programs for the remainder of the hockey season because of COVID-19.

Fast forward two years later and the same two teams face off again with a league championship on the line.

"Sometimes it feels like yesterday and sometimes it feels like 10 years ago," said Lorette coach Kevin Holden. "We have a couple of guys who were there in 2020 that are really happy to be back."

"It's hard to believe it's been two years," noted Springfield coach Kevin Maslechko. "Everyone is excited to get a full season in and to be at this point. Unfortunate for the guys who missed out two years ago but part of the group is still here and they're hoping to seal the deal this time."

The Comets eliminated the Niverville Clippers four games to one in their semifinal.

Coach Holden said it was a much different Clippers squad that they faced in the playoffs compared to the four games that they dominated during the regular season schedule.

"They were on fire after their win over Red River. It was a battle over and over again, every night. It was fun for us."

Coach Maslechko's young Xtreme team grabbed a 3-1 series lead over Steinbach and then watched the Huskies stave off elimination by winning game five in Oakbank and game six at the T.G. Smith Centre.

Springfield rallied from a 3-2 third period deficit and edged Steinbach 4-3 in the deciding seventh game in Oakbank ending the Huskies valiant comeback attempt.

"It was a hard fought series," said Maslechko. "It was battle that went right down to the wire. It was an emotional victory and the boys are very excited. It was a great learning experience for them."

The Comets took three of four games from the Xtreme during the regular season schedule and finished four points ahead of Springfield in the hotly contested race for top spot.

Two of those four games were decided in overtime.

The Xtreme won their lone HTJHL championship in the spring of 2017 and coach Maslechko says his team has to stay out of the penalty box and have a commitment to defense if they intend on winning their second title. "Lorette knows how to score. They're three lines deep that has scoring ability. We're going to have to pay mind to our defensive roles and responsibilities."

"We were lucky to go watch a couple of their games," said coach Holden when asked what the key is against the Xtreme. "They're big and heavy and fast. We've got to be tougher on defense and toughen up a little bit when we see these guys."

Lorette won it's last league championship in 2015-16 when they beat Springfield in six games.

Game two is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Ile des Chenes.

The series then shifts to Oakbank for games three and four on Tuesday, March 15th and Saturday, March 19th.