It may not have the same ring to it as Superior/St. Norbert.  It may not carry the playoff history of Superior/Stevens Point.  It may not have the same cache as Superior/River Falls.  It may not have the same intensity as Superior/St. Scholastica.  It may not be their first-ever post-season meeting, but this time around there is a heck of a lot more on the line.

Superior and Stout, a pair of WIAC schools, will take the ice at Wessman Arena on Saturday night.  The winner will claim the 2009 Peters Cup and the NCHA's automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament.  The loser will likely also get into the tournament, but will have to wait until Sunday when they would receive an at-large bid.

Yes, this Saturday night will feature a true battle of west region heavyweights.

"We've been playing some good hockey of late, but what we've been doing is probably overshadowed some, in our conference and in our region, by the way Stout has been playing," said Yellowjacket Head Coach Dan Stauber.  "They have been on quite a roll, for the most part, since November.  They have been playing some really good hockey and are right there when you talk about the best teams in the country.  Top to bottom that's a good team."

And the Blue Devils have been doing it with a flair for the dramatic.  They have won eight games in a row, and in six of them they have rallied from behind to get the victory.  In their tie with Superior on January 24, they scored with 27.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.  They scored with 30 seconds left in regulation against St. Norbert on February 7, then won the game in overtime.  The next week, they scored four goals in the third period to come-from-behind and beat River Falls, securing second place in the conference.  Eau Claire had the lead at least once in each of their first round playoff games, and St. Scholastica had a third period lead in the semifinal game last weekend.  They are kids of the cardiac variety, but also have the ability to bury you in the early stages and make the game one-sided.

"They have a good, skilled group of forwards.  They have some guys that can really put the puck in the net," Stauber said.  "They have mobile defenseman who can move the puck and like every Stout team I've ever seen, they have really good goaltending.

"They are also a very good team on the power play.  They have scored a lot of goals with the man-advantage this year."

To be exact, they've scored 39 power play goals on the year.  That equates to about one-third of all their goals on the season.  And half of those goals on the PP have come from their "Big Three" - Scott Motz, Joel Gaulrapp and Derek Hanson.

"Looking at that, I think that's the biggest key for us right there.  They are dangerous enough as it is.  We don't need to help them by putting them on the power play all night long," Stauber said.

The teams have met three times prior in the NCHA post-season.  All of the meetings have come in the first round of the playoffs, and all of them have come at Wessman Arena.  The 'Jackets hold an edge in the playoff series with a 5-0-1 record.

"It means nothing.  Nobody on our team and nobody on their team were a part of any of those three meetings.  This is a new year and a meeting between a bunch of new players," Stauber said.  "The only ones here who were a part of any of those are myself and Terry (Watkins)."

Below is a look at their first three playoff meetings.

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1996-97 NCHA QUARTERFINALS - at Superior

Game 1: Superior 3  Stout 2

Game 2: Superior 4  Stout 0

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1998-99 NCHA QUARTERFINALS - at Superior

Game 1: Superior 4  Stout 4

Game 2: Superior 8  Stout 1 

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2002-03 NCHA QUARTERFINALS - at Superior

Game 1: Superior 3  Stout 0

Game 2: Superior 5  Stout 0

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Time to break 'em down.  Below is a look at the teams heading into the game.

The teams have met twice this season.  The 'Jackets won 3-1 at Dunn County Arena on November 14.  On January 24, the teams skated to a 2-2 tie at Wessman Arena.

"I think you truly have the two teams that are playing the best hockey in the west getting together in this one, so it should be a great game on Saturday night," Stauber said.  "I know they are looking forward to this.  They reached the final for the first time last year and came up short.  They want to win it this year and put a banner up in their rink.  We want to stop that and put up another in ours."

The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.  It's expected that the game will be a sellout, so get there early and buy your tickets if you haven't done so already.

"That's a big thing for us, to have Wessman full and a good, loud crowd there to watch," Stauber said.  "We have some great fans in Superior, and it's been a lot of fun for our staff and our guys the past few weeks to play in front of these big crowds.  This weekend should be no exception."