Billingham Stars face Blackburn Hawks this weekend looking to retain their NIHL1 North play-off crown. Stars claimed last year’s trophy with a 7-5 aggregate success over the Hawks and are favourites to clinch the title once again.

The Teesside outfit finished the regular season in the second place, 13 points in front of the Hawks in fourth. The teams met four times, with Stars claiming 4-3 & 3-2 wins on the road, with a 6-3 success and a 5-4 defeat on home ice.

Here’s a quick look at some key stats from both teams:

Billingham Stars

Top points scorers:

Michael Bowman P 30 G 25 A 23 Pts 48
Michael Elder P 30 G 18 A 16 Pts 34
Paul Windridge P 25 G 8 A 25 Pts 33

Netminder: Mark Watson P 14 GA 23 GAA 1.89 Save 93.39%

Most PIMs: Scott Ward 59

Blackburn Hawks

Top points scorers:

Jared Owen P 31 G 17 A 16 Pts 33
Dave Meikle P 30 G 9 A 20 Pts 29
Aaron Davies P 24 G 15 A 11 Pts 26

Netminder: Daniel Brittle P 29 GA 91 GAA 3.26 Save 91.64%

Most PIMs: Chris Arnone 182

The first leg is on Saturday at Blackburn Arena (face-off 5.45pm), with the return the following evening at TFM Ice Arena (face-off 6.30pm).