After a very competitive regular season, the IJHL is ready to get the post-season underway. The four-team league will begin its best-of-seven semi-final round this week. Here are previews of each series:

#4 Charlottetown Abbies vs. #1 Kensington Moase Plumbing & Heating Vipers

The Vipers' record against the Abbies makes it seem like they dominated the season series, however, half of the meetings were one-goal games including three decided in overtime. The Abbies have the league's top scorer, Brett Turner (48 points) and will look to his offensive leadership to try and pull off an upset in this series.

Not an easy task as they will be up against the defending Don Johnson Cup champions. The Vipers had the league's best offence and defence this season statistically, but not by large margins in either category. The goaltending tandem of Travis Willis and Logan Reid will be counted on to be the difference for them in the post-season. 

The kickoff of the 2012 playoffs will enable the Vipers to begin their quest for a third straight island championship. They've been the most successful franchise in recent history, winning six of the last eight league titles.

The Falcons went from the highest scoring team a year ago to the lowest scoring team this season but has still managed to land in second place in the standings. A favourite is very difficult to pick in this series since both teams finished the season with the same number of points (35).

If the season series is any indication, the Falcons have a slight edge, however, momentum is on the side of the Red Wings, who went 8-3 in their last 11 regular season games while the Falcons went 3-8.

The Falcons balanced attack is led by captain, Alex Smith, Craig Dougan, Kaleb Lazaric, Brady Cook and Josh Kirkpatrick. They also get a boost for the playoffs as Colby Bruce will be joining the Falcons for the playoffs. Colby played for the Montague Maniacs last season who won a silver medal in the Don Johnson Cup. Alternate captains Kyle Dougan and Braden Johnson will anchor the blueline, while one of the league's top goaltending duos of Devon Cudmore and Tyler MacDonald will man the pipes.

"We have all the tools to win the Island Championship", says head coach / GM, Greg Rivard. "Our coaching staff is confident that the unique feel of the playoffs will fire up our players when the puck drops in game one."

The Red Wings will be led by team captain, TJ Campbell, and hard hitting defencemen, Jackie Ray Bernard. "We're expecting a few players to return from injuries and suspensions," says manager, JC Gallant. "Fans can expect fast, hard-hitting, tough hockey as we make a run at the championship."

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