BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Playoff time is upon us in the FPHL as the Binghamton Black Bears begin their chase for the Commissioners Cup on Friday night.

The Black Bears will begin their postseason with a best of 3 series against the Watertown Wolves.

Binghamton enters as the 2 seed while Watertown is the 3.

This is a matchup the Black Bears have been in control of this year, going 7-1 against the Wolves.

This series begins in Watertown on Friday night, when speaking with the team earlier this week, Interim Head Coach Brant Sherwood expressed the importance of winning Game 1 on the road.

“It’s huge,” Sherwood said. “Getting that first game on the road and doing it in someone else’s building, it kinda sets the tone for the weekend. You don’t want to be playing catch up, knowing that you have to go three games in a row on a weekend. We’d like to finish it off in two but hey, we got to do it in three, we got to do it in three. You never know in playoffs.”

Regardless of the result on Friday night, the Black Bears will return home to host game 2 on Saturday and game 3 on Sunday if necessary.

After hosting just 1 playoff game last year on a Monday night, the team is excited to get back to playoff hockey in Binghamton, but this time in front of a packed house on a Saturday night.

“It’s gonna be amazing,” Black Bears forward Tyler Gjurich said. “Especially since, now the playoffs are on a weekend, last year it was a weekday. We only had half a crowd last season, it was still electric so, we’re gonna have a sell out on Saturday it’s gonna be an absolute blast.”

A fun night at the arena it should be on Saturday night.

The Black Bears will look to make the FPHL semifinals for the first time in franchise history with a series win this weekend.

Game 1, set for 7:35 p.m. Friday in Watertown, then it is back on home on Saturday with action set to begin at 7 p.m.