SJHL Klippers hoping for better bounces

By Jordan Parker

The puck luck for the SJHL Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers just hasn’t been there lately.

Despite a hearty return to action January 6-7, 2023 against the Battlefords North Stars, the Klippers came up short. They were downed 5-1 in back-to-back games.

“I don’t think the score indicated how close those games were,” said Assistant Coach Tyler Traptow. “That first game was 3-1 with three minutes left.”

The Klippers battled hard, but just couldn’t manage to get the upper-hand against the formidable team.

“They got an empty-netter that game, and one goal late. We played well, but they capitalized on their chances,” he said.

“That next game, we played even better. We put up 47 shots, and just couldn’t find the back of the net in that game.”

Despite two losses, the team still had confidence given their overall on-ice performance.

“The majority of the time, we were playing well. Bit it seemed like any time we made a mistake, it was in the back of the net,” he said. “We need to tighten up, but we proved to ourselves we can play with the best teams.”

The way that things are going for the Klippers just hasn’t been fortuitous in their favour.

“We had four breakaways, three posts, and things didn’t go our way. But we proved we can play with anyone in the league,” he said. “We’ll get the puck to go in if we continue to do the right things.”

The long break for the Klippers allowed the team to get healthy, and Traptow says it was good for all involved.

“The team looked good when they came back. It was a good week prior of skating and getting rid of the turkey legs. We’ve been playing well since returning,” he said.

One issue that weekend was Logan Falk – who just returned from injury – was unable to mind the net during that time.

“He came back and ended up with a stomach bug on Friday, and he couldn’t play. We had an emergency back-up on Saturday. We’re lucky to have a goalie tandem we can rely on,” said Traptow.

There a few things, however, that the team can do to get back on the right track in the standings.

“We know it comes down to limiting mental errors. When we have them, good teams will capitalize,” he said.

“If we tighten up on the little mistakes and continue to shoot pucks, then I think everything will be just fine.”

KLIPPERS CLIPS:

Of note is that the Klippers recently made moves, including sending Wyatt Cook to the SJHL Mustangs in exchange for Alex Mack, and trading defenceman Jacob Dewitt to the Olds Grizzlys for a PDF.

Klippers ended their losing skid on Saturday night with a 3-2 win over the visiting Flin Flon Bombers!