Sask West This Week: Klippers will look to repeat as league champions
By Phil Heilman
The Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) is back for its 25th season of operation. The same seven teams are also back and ready to go, with a smaller 12-game regular season schedule.
Captain Carson Grolla and the Kindersley Klippers are looking to repeat as Sask West Champs in 2025. The team participated in the Goose Festival Parade this past September. PHOTO BY KATE WINQUIST
Before we look at each team, a quick disclaimer that rosters are ever-changing and some of this could age really well.
Biggar Nationals
It might be a tough year in the land of the Hanson Buck this year, with quite a few players moving on from the team, including five locals. The Nats are coming off a strong 2023/24 season, pushing the Hafford Hawks to the limit in the 1st round before bowing out. Goaltender Brett Matlock is a key returnee from that team and will likely have to perform all sorts of magic tricks to get his team some wins this year.
Edam 3 Stars
The long-time powerhouse is back with essentially the same roster, with just a bit of tinkering to solidify their numbers. Cody Danberg is back from injury for another year, but the Stars did lose a couple of big-name locals. Edam had a strong campaign last year but bowed out in a 1st round sweep to the Macklin Mohawks. With Danberg and the Fransoos leading the charge, the status quo should be at a minimum.
Hafford Hawks
Hafford was the surprise of the SWHL last year, surpassing all expectations and almost robbing Kindersley of 2nd place. Despite all that, it was a struggle to keep the band together, with some players leaving. Connor Neave and Zane Florence are key adds to a good team that flies under the radar. The Hawks are looking to ride the 2nd round playoff exit to the Klippers in 4 games. Hopefully, they can get the ice in at a regular time this year!
Kindersley Sr Klippers
Is the Champions Cash deal over yet? Did Carson Grolla ever make it back to work? Jokes aside, the 'David" finally overcame it all and won their first league Championship as the Klippers and Kindersley's first since the Red Lions in 2012/13. The band is back together to repeat, with some roster tinkering on the bottom six and some movement on the import front. The Brick Wall, known as Logan Drackett, will again be key.
Macklin Mohawks
The team with one of the strongest cores of local players continues to plug along at a high level. Despite bowing out in straight games to the Wilkie Outlaws in the second round, they went on to win a provincial championship, defeating the Redvers Rockets in three games. Again, tinkering with the roster was in order, but the bulk of last year's team remains. Important spark plugs Carson Pickett and Cody McKinnon will be looked upon to continue pulling the cart.
Unity Miners
They won a game! And they overhauled their roster in the summer. The core of young locals is around still, but they were able to add some big notch snipers to round out the roster. The Dziurzynski brothers, along with Daniel Hilsendagger should inject an important boost to a growing team.
Wilkie Outlaws
The league runner-up and the Provincial' C' Champions were able to keep the band together for another year for one more run at a double banner. Back are big guns, Ryan Keller and Derek Keller. Some young locals are coming back to fill out the roster as well. High expectations are always in the air for the Outlaws.
The new season starts on November 8th, with the Wilkie Outlaws hosting the Hafford Hawks and a contest between the Edam 3 Stars and the Biggar Nationals in Biggar. The season concludes on January 26th, 2025, with an afternoon matchup between the Outlaws and Biggar at 'the Jube.'