The Botany Swarm will have their work cut out for the them as they face the current Toa Kauhanga Riri Tio champions, the Canterbury Red Devils. You could also argue the the Red Devils have their work cut out of them as well.
The Botany Swarm split their last weekend set with the Dunedin Thunder. In their final meeting of the season, the Swarm notched 8 goals and the Thunder only responded with one. The big story of that game though was longtime Botany Swarm forward Josh Hay notching his 100th point in an astonishing 100 games. At only 24 years old, Hay definitely has a long career ahead of him with the Botany Swarm, and the New Zealand Ice Hockey League in general.
The Canterbury Red Devils sit tied for first with the Dunedin Thunder. Depending on how all the games work out this weekend, the standings could change dramatically. The Red Devils completely overpowered and dismantled the West Auckland Admirals in their last weekend set to keep the
Toa Kauhanga Riri Tio trophy at home in Canterbury. Chris Eaden and Brett Speirs will be looking to add to their point totals. It will be interesting to see who starts in goal this weekend for the Red Devils as well.
This is one weekend match up you do not want to miss. I plan on setting my timer to be up at 1am to take it all in. Make sure you either get down to Botany to watch it live or tune into NZIHL.tv and pick up all the action. Puck drops for the first game at 5pm local time.
marchhockey.com 
Chris Eaden is looking for a soon recovery!