SWHL Senior Klippers finish first in regular season play
By Jordan Parker
The SWHL Senior Kindersley Klippers are enjoying a break after a hard-fought, winning regular season.
The team finished 13-0-0-1 this year with 26 points, and stood six points ahead of the Outlaws as the final weekend of season play loomed. The Klippers, however, had played all 14 tilts and were looking forward to a bit of pre-playoff relaxation.
“We had three big games last week. It started with our 7-6 OT loss to Edam,” said team manager Brady Newmeyer. The guys went down 6-4 in the third period but pushed it to overtime.
“We clawed back. We were down, and just had had to find a way to tie it up. We lost, but it was a great, fast-paced hockey game that went back and forth,” he said.
They headed into Macklin to face the fourth-place Mohawks on Saturday, January 14th, and came out with a big 6-2 victory.
“We played another game against a hard-working team and managed to come out ahead. Things were clicking, and we did well in some really competitive games.”
The Klippers got up 2-0 by the end of the first, and continued to dominate in the second. Macklin’s Carson Pickett scored on the powerplay at the end of the second, but the damage was done. With no scoring in the third, the game ended at 6-2.
Finally, in a sterling effort at the West Central Events Centre in Kindersley to close out the regular season, the team bested the Edam 3 Stars 6-3 to finish off.
Now rest is exactly what they need to make sure they’ll be playoff-ready the weekend of January 27th, 2023.
“We definitely have some bumps and bruises we’ve been fighting, so this time will help us get over all that,” he said. “We have a weekend off, and then it’s looking like we’ll play the Unity Miners in the first round best-of-three.”
The Miners – though they had league play left – were due to finish last in the league’s regular season standings and had netted zero points at the time of Your Southwest’s interview.
“We’ll be practicing, get some rest and be ready to go. That Unity team works hard. They haven’t won yet, but you never know. It’s playoff hockey,” said Newmeyer.
“They’re a big team and they play hard. They have two great goaltenders, and that’s scary. A great goaltender performance can win a game.”
As of January 20, 2023, the Klippers had managed to have three players in the top five of league scoring, and Jonny Calkins was sitting in second, bested only by the Wilkie Outlaws’ Brock Harrison.
“We have some definite firepower up front. The guys have worked hard all year. Jonny is a gifted playmaker, and he’s been great with Shayne Neigum and Kyle Donaldson as of late,” he said.
“Kyle has been playing a lot with Tyler Traptow out coaching the SJHL Klippers. He’s goal-a-game right now, and it’s huge to have him around. He can play on any line. Defenseman Carson Groilla has also been great, with 10 goals this year. It’s just a really good team.”
Newmeyer said they can expect that hard-fought hockey during the playoffs, and the team will be ready.
“They’re big, physical and they don’t back down. We need to stick to our game-plan and work. We have offensive threats, and they’ve been buzzing,” he said.
“We need to stay focused on the task at hand and stay healthy. That’s a huge thing right now.”
Watch for Kindersley’s playoff debut for the year next weekend – The schedule will come out sometime this week at SWHL.com.