Klippers continue strong play despite home rink setback
By Jordan Parker
The Kindersley Klippers weren’t able to play in their home rink over the weekend but have continued strong play regardless.
A malfunction at the ice plant left the ice in a liquid state – leading to the postponement of Friday’s game against Notre Dame – but the team carried forward.
They beat Yorkton 3-2 on Saturday, and though they fell to Battleford 3-1 on Tuesday, they’re still 6-2-1 in their last nine.
“We ended up having to turn off the other rink, and the ice had to be redone. It’s back to normal now,” said Assistant Coach Mitch Topinka. “We practiced on it this week, and we should be good to go.”
It was an unfortunate turn of events for a Klipper’s team that was hosting Parents Weekend, leaving them without ice in Kindersley to play on.
“We had to postpone Friday, and we didn’t find out about the ice condition until after 5 p.m. That night. It was too late to call Notre Dame, so they brought someone to try to fix it. It didn’t work, and it was a long night. We officially called the game at 9 p.m. But on Saturday, we were offered ice in Rosetown, which is 45 minutes away,” he said.
“We just wanted to see the boys play for Parents Weekend, and to have Rosetown reach out to us was amazing. It was so nice that they accommodated us,” he said. “We jumped all over the opportunity. It was nice to see that community step up and help out.”
Even hosting at the AGT Foods Centre in Rosetown, the team saw 521 people in attendance, and the coach says he likes what he sees from the crowds.
“Others are feeling the difficulties of not having crowds, but I’m told our attendance is even a little higher than previous years. We’ve been really happy. Home games have been good,” he said.
“The guys feed off the crowd, and it’s a different energy with people there. It’s just really fun to watch when it gets them going.”
The 3-2 Klippers win saw two goals from Jaxon Georget, one from Aidan Bangs, and a 25-save performance from goalie Brett Sweet.
Despite this, the Klippers were outshot. They killed off both their penalties, but in five powerplays, they failed to capitalize against Yorkton.
“Our game on Saturday wasn’t pretty. We need some improvements, even though we got two points. I wasn’t overly happy with our performance,” he said.
“I thought it was a sloppy game on both sides, and we need to work at that powerplay. We need to try different things and shoot the puck. If we don’t shoot, then we can’t score.”
The Klippers went 0/4 on the powerplay against Battleford in the 3-1 game, with goaltender Matthew Pesenti stopping 29 of 32 shots. Max Kathol scored in the loss.
Klipper’s centre Noah Lindsay says the powerplay is something the team needs to continue to push on.
“Overcoming our struggle with the powerplay means continuing to work in practice. We need to develop chemistry and confidence with each other as teammates,” he said.
However, Lindsay has also noticed a change in the team within the last few weeks.
“Morale and positivity had been awesome since we started winning. The past few games, there has been a lack of focus, but we are still learning how to play a solid 60 minutes,” he said. “We deal with the highs and lows, and we just need to refine throughout this year.”
They will have a rematch against Battleford at 7:30 ST on Friday, Nov. 12.
