Sask West This Week: League and Provincial Playoffs
It is that time of year where both league and provincial playoffs for the teams in the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) have fired up.
League
In the opening round of league, the 2 seed Kindersley Sr Klippers play the 7 seed Unity Miners, the 3 seed Hafford Hawks play the 6 seed Biggar Nationals, and the 4 seed Edam 3 Stars play the 5 seed Macklin Mohawks. The Wilkie Outlaws, the 1 seed, receive the bye into the semi-finals
On Sunday night, the Unity Miners headed south to play game 2 of the best of 3 series against the Kindersley Sr Klippers. The home team completed the two-game sweep with a dominant 9-0 win.
Kyle Donaldson and Tyler Traptow would score in the opening frame. Bryon Ismond, Brody Ryberg and Jared Erickson added to the lead in the 2nd period. In the third, Damon McKenzie would score twice, with Johnny Calkins and Jessey Pocock adding to the total on the evening.
Ryan Rewerts took the loss, stopping 39 of 49 shots, while Cody Beswitherick stopped all 29 shots in the win.
On Friday night, the Kindersley Sr Klippers travelled north to the Unity Community Centre to play the Miners in game 1 in the best of 3 first round match. The Klippers came away with a hard fought 3-1 victory and take the 1-0 lead.
Byron Ismond opened the scoring at the 13:55 mark of the period, giving the Klippers the 1-0 lead. In the middle frame, Lane Gilliss would squeak a shot through Miners’ goaltender Bryan Bridges on the power play to extend the lead to 2-0. After that, things got a little western as the two teams started a parade to the penalty box, with the need for possible expansion if it continued. Cooler heads did prevail after that. In the later stages of the period, Logan Stephanson fired a rocket from the point to further extend the lead to 3-0. In the 3rd, Brayden Schultz would break up the shutout bid, and cut the lead to 3-1. It was as close as the home team would get.
Cody Beswitherick took the win, stopping 27 of 28 shots, while Bridges stopped 35 of 38 shots in the loss.
Also, on Friday, the Edam 3 Stars hosted the Macklin Mohawks in game 1 of their best of 3 opening round series, and it was Macklin stealing the 3-0 victory, and taking the 1-0 lead.
Cody McKinnon opened the scoring late in the first, with Tyler Kunz adding to the lead late in the second period. Tyler Baier would tie a bow on the victory with an empty net goal.
Trevor Martin stopped all 29 shots, while Taryn Kotchorek stopped 32 of 34 shots.
Provincials
In the ‘A’ Division, the Edam/Hafford combined team (known as the Hafford Hawks for simplicity) faced the Watrous Winterhawks of the Long Lake Hockey League in Round 1.
The Snow Pigeons took game 1 on Tuesday Jan 27th with a score of 5-2, with game 2 meant to be played at Edam on Friday night. Due to the extremely warm weather, the game was moved to Battleford Arena. Hafford would secure the 3-2 win to tie the series up at 1. Game 3 was played Sunday afternoon in Watrous with the Winterhawks winning 7-4. Watrous wins the series 2-1 and moves on to play the Leroy Braves.
Also, in ‘A’, the Kindersley Sr Klippers play the Loreburn 19ers of the Sask Valley Hockey League in Round 2. Game 1 of the series is on February 11th in Kindersley at 7:30pm. Game 2 happens in Loreburn on February 16th at 8pm, with game 3 (if needed) in Kindersley on February 18th at 7pm.
In the ‘C’ Division, the Unity Miners play the Dinsmore Dynamos of the Sask Valley Hockey League, with game 1 played in Dinsmore on January 31st. Dinsmore came away with a hard fought 6-4 victory. Game 2 of the series happens February 10th in Unity at 5:30pm, with game 3 (if needed) on February 11th at 2:30pm.
Also, in ‘C’, the Wilkie Outlaws hosted the Porcupine Plain Blues of the Wheatland Hockey League. The Outlaws game away with the huge 13-1 victory. Ryan Keller (3), Ryne Keller (2), Brett Boehm (2), Rory Gregoire (2), Mitch Suchan, Rick Cey, Brock Harrison and Mike Sittler all scored for Wilkie. Tyler Soucy responded for the Blues. Game 2 of the series goes February 10th in Porcupine Plain at 8:15pmm with game 3 (if needed) on February 11th at 3pm
The Biggar Nationals, also in the ‘C’ Bracket, play the Rosthern Wheat Kings of the Twin Rivers Hockey League. Game 1 took place in Rosthern on Friday night, with the home team winning 9-4. Game 2 happened on Saturday night in Biggar, with the Nationals winning 4-2. The winner takes all game 3 happens February 10th in Biggar at 8pm.
In the ‘D’ Division, the Macklin Mohawks play the Perdue Pirates of the Sask Prairie Hockey League. Game 1 happens February 10th in Macklin at 8pm, Game 2 goes in Perdue on February 17th at 8pm and game 3 (if needed) is slated for February 18th at 4:30pm in Perdue.