Sask West This Week: Wilkie Outlaws
By Phil Heilman
Another exciting week of the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) has come to an end, with the Wilkie Outlaws finding themselves in a familiar spot. They sit on the top of the table with a 4-1 record, followed by the Macklin Mohawks with a 3-1 record. The Edam 3 stars and the Hafford Hawks are tied with an identical 2-1 record. Sitting in 5th is the Kindersley Sr Klippers with a 1-1 record. The Biggar Nationals (0-3-1) and the Unity Miners (0-3) bring up the rear.
On Friday night, one of the marquee matchups of the season happened at the SaskCan Community Centre as the Wilkie Outlaws battled the Edam 3 Stars, with the Outlaws coming out on top 6-3.
Edam opened the scoring at the 14:11 mark of the 1st period thanks to Tristan Derenoski’s 2nd of the year. Mike Sittler and Brock Harrison would respond for the home side 2 minutes apart, leaving the scoreboard reading 2-1 Outlaws after 20 minutes. Rory Gregoire would extend that lead to 3-, however, the white-hot Keegan Tiringer’s 8th (!!!) of the year cut it back to 3-2. Rick Cey’s 4th of the year on the power play would open the lead back up to 2 goals, which held after 40 minutes. In the final frame, Joel Blaquiere would score on the power play to once again cut the lead to 1 goal. In the later stages of the period, Derek Keller and Brett Schell scored 38 seconds apart to tie a bow on the victory.
Taryn Kotchorek took the loss, stopping 41 of 47 shots, while Jared Herle scores the win, stopping 35 of 38 shots.
Also on Friday, the Macklin Mohawks welcomed the Hafford Hawks, but it was the visitors spoiling the night, taking a 5-3 win.
Scoring was scarce in the first 40 minutes, with Clay Casavant giving the Hawks a 1-0 early in the 1st. That held all the way until the 16:25 mark if the 2nd, when Tyler Baier scored his first of the year to tie it up. In the 3rd, the flood gates opened, with Spencer Bast scoring a shorthanded marker to put the Mohawks up 2-1. Brandon Lesko and Jeremy Boyer would respond in short order to restore the 1 goal Hawks lead. Hunter Steinhubel would tie it back up at 3. Quinton Cubbon would score with 5:13 left to give Hafford the 4-3 lead, with Boyer adding an empty net goal to secure the win.
Joel Gryzbowski took the win, stopping 23 of 26 shots, while Owen Bosch took the loss, stopping 24 of 28 shots.
On Saturday night, the Macklin Mohawks headed east to visit the Unity Miners, with the Mohawks coming away with the 8-5 win.
Carson Pickett opened the scoring on the power play, but David Dzuirzynski would tie it up very quickly after. Davis Chorney would put the home team up; however, Pickett fired his 2nd of the period (on the power play) to tie it back up at 2. Darian Dziurzynski didn’t wait long in the middle frame, scoring just 1:08 into the frame, putting Unity up 3-2. Ian Hillis would score on the power play to tie it right back up at 3. Danial Hilsendager would once again give the Miners the one goal lead. Jared Hillis would again tie it up on the power play, with Spencer Bast finally giving the Mohawks their first lead of the game late in the period. In the third, Hunter Steinhubel would score his 3rd of the year to extend the lead to 6-4, but Darian’s 2nd of the evening would claw the Miners back to within 1 goal. It was as close as they would get as Jesse Gartner and Steinhubel scored to finish up scoring.
Trevor Martin secured the win, stopping 30 of 35 shots, while Brett Vanderveer took the loss, stopping 28 of 36 shots.
Two games are slated for the December 6th-8th weekend, seeing Unity travelling to Biggar at 8:30pm on Friday night, and Macklin travelling to Kindersley for an 8pm Saturday night game.