SJHL Klippers on brink of missing playoffs

By Jordan Parker

After an up-and-down season, the SJHL Kindersley Klippers find themselves in a must-win situation.

With four games left in the regular season, they’ll need to win all four in regulation to have a fighting chance of nabbing the final playoff berth. They also, however, need to count on poor play from the Notre Dame Hounds, who sit five pounds up from them in the division standings.

The team had a heartbreaking 5-4 loss on Friday, February 25 to the Melfort Mustangs, and followed it up with a disappointing 4-1 loss to Humboldt on Wednesday.

“The Melfort game was just one of those games we let slip away. We hit six or seven crossbars in that game,” said Assistant Coach Mitch Topinka.

“But you can’t give up five goals and expect to win. That play is costing us right about now.”

While Noah Lindsay and Tylin Hilbig each had two goals during the game, a familiar face on the opposing side also made an impact.

Former Klippers captain Mark Snarr was traded to Melfort at the deadline, and accounting for an assist and two penalty minutes during the contest.

“It is what it is. You get traded, and you often have a jump in your step when you play your former team, just the way Mark did during the game,” he said.

“The guys still talk to him, and it’s part of the game. He was wearing a different jersey. It wasn’t that weird, but it was interesting.”

During the game, the Klippers once again failed to capitalize on the chances they were given – going 0/7 on the powerplay.

“It seems like we get traction on it, and then it just goes down the hole. It’s so up-and down, but when you have opportunities like that, you need to capitalize,” he said.

“We could’ve put Melfort out-of-hand, but we didn’t. Now we need to swallow that pill, and move forward.”

The team will exclusively play Humboldt and Battleford in their final four games, and Topinka says they will need to exploit the weaknesses on the powerhouse teams.

“They’re both good teams. Humboldt is near the top of the league and they’re skilled. Battleford are great too. But they’re both high-risk teams, and we can capitalize on that,” he said.

“We need to stay confident, stay patient, and jump on our opportunities when we get them.”

He said everyone can see just how big the final games are.

“There’s a really big task ahead and a lot of factors. We need to play our best hockey of the year over the next two weeks,” he said. “We put ourselves in a hole, and we have to dig ourselves out.”