CANORA - After winning a tight battle on the road in Dinsmore on Feb. 17 in Game 1 of the north semifinal series in provincials, the Canora Cobras returned home with the opportunity to close out the series on home ice. But the Dinsmore Dynamos came into Canora and won two straight games on Feb. 24 and 25 to win the series.
In Game 1 in Dinsmore, the Cobras earned a tight 4-3 decision for their 17th straight win, counting SEHL league play, the first round of the playoffs, and their first three games of provincials.
The Cobras came out of the first period with a 1-0 lead, thanks to an unassisted goal by Austin Severson. Casey Mydonick, who took over as coach when Darren Schwartz and Cal Homeniuk were both unavailable for Game 1, said the Cobras played a solid game.
“It was great,” said Mydonick. “They have a big ice surface, and it took five or 10 minutes for us to get used to it in the first period, but after that we played well played well.”
Mydonick said it was a tight battle throughout, but the Cobras outscored Dinsmore 2-1 in the second period. Severson scored his second straight goal to make it 2-0, assisted by Skyler Hladun and Tyler Ostoforoff of Canora. The two teams traded goals after that, including a power play marker by Hladun, assisted by Scott Mickoski and Cody Dubas of Invermay.
“The power play is very important in the playoffs, that was a big goal,” said Mydonick.
The Cobras opened the third period with a two-goal lead, but Dinsmore came out flying and scored a pair of goals in the first minute to tie the score.
“Our guys settled in and it was tight checking after that,” said Mydonick. “Then, with about five minutes left, Vaughn Wilgosh scored for us on a solo rush unassisted, turned out to be the winning goal.”
Mydonick reported that Durban Hleboff played a sensational game in goal for the Cobras on the way to the win. “He gave us lots of momentum.”
Mydonick observed that Dinsmore is a smart, quick team, and the Cobras would need plenty of fan support for Game 2 and Game 3, if necessary in Canora.
“We feed off the Canora crowd; we feel we have the best fans anywhere.”
Game 2
The series shifted to the Canora Civic Centre for Game 2, and the visitors jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first minute. Coach Darren Schwartz, who was back in his customary role behind the bench, said he was pleased with the way the Cobras responded.
“We gave up quick goal, but bounced right back with four straight goals of our own. For the rest of the first period, we took over and were the better team.”
The Cobras led 4-2 going into the first intermission, and 6-3 after 40 minutes. But Dinsmore took over in the third period, scoring six straight goals to wrap up a comeback 9-6 victory and force a third and deciding game the next afternoon
“We were playing OK heading into the third period,” said Schwartz. “But Dinsmore started scoring, and the boys couldn’t stop them. We knew the winning streak would end sooner or later, it’s unfortunate it happened now. But we gave that game away; goalies, defense and forwards. There were no timely saves, and we gave the puck away too much. That game was on us.”
Logan Foster led the Canora offense with a goal and three assists. Troy Zulyniak scored a pair of goals, with singles from Tomas Hauber and Ryley Stefanyshyn of Canora and Scott Mickoski, who also had an assist. Kody Rock of Canora chipped in with a pair of assists.
Game 3
The third and deciding game took place the next afternoon, and Schwartz figured that was good for the Cobras because, “we couldn’t dwell on what happened in Game 2 for long.”
Dinsmore got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period. but the Cobras came back to tie the score twice, first at 2-2, and then 3-3.
“We got behind but we battled back, which was good to see,” said Schwartz. “The rest of the way it was a really good game, a high quality back-and-forth-battle. We’ve go to keep playing like that in the future.”
A big power play goal by Cole Rathgeber gave the Cobras a short-lived lead in the third period.
“We were up 4-3. We didn’t agree with the calls, their tying goal was on a power play,” said Schwartz. “The refs dictated the game outcome, making questionable calls. That shouldn’t happen in a close, important game like that.”
The game went into overtime, and Dinsmore scored the game winning and series winning goal.
“The guys were very disappointed to be out of provincials,” said Schwartz. “But I told them, ‘Now we’re back to our goal of winning the league.’ It’s tough to do both, but provincials would have definitely been a bonus.”
In Game 3, Logan Foster scored twice for the Cobras, with Rathgeber and Troy Zulyniak adding singles. Vaughn Wilgosh and William Hauber of Canora and Scott Mickoski were the top playmakers with two assists each.
Next up for the Cobras is the SEHL north division final series, with Game 1 on Friday, March 1, in Canora against the Swan Valley Axemen, who upset the defending league champion Theodore Buffalos in the first round.
“We lost to Swan Valley last year in the first round, and they gave us our only league loss this year, so it’s going to be a good series, can’t ask for anything better,” said Schwartz.
“We had great fan support against Dinsmore, hopefully the fans will keep it up on Friday.”
SEHL Awards
The Sask East Hockey League announced individual award winners on Feb. 16 as a result of a league wide voting process, according to a release from the league.
With only one loss through the 14-game regular season, the Cobras were rewarded with multiple awards.
The top defenseman is Canora's Vaughn Wilgosh, “who combined strong offensive play with equally strong defensive efforts,” according to the release.
Canora’s Kody Rock was named most improved player.
Two other Canora players came close to winning awards. Theodore's Warren Shymko won the top goaltender, nosing out Rylan Palchewich of the Cobras and Deven Dubyk of the Swan Valley Axemen.
Rookie of the year was a close four-horse race, with Theodore’s Dylan Thackeray emerging over Tomas Hauber of Canora, Jamie Valentino of the Axemen, and Brock Kirkland of Churchbridge.
Schwartz said seeing so many Canora players at or near the top in voting was “a tribute to the great season we had.”
After leading the Cobras to 13 wins in 14 games and the top seeding throughout the playoffs, Schwartz was named coach of the year, and gave praise to his team for the award.
“Credit goes to the players. I just give them a plan and they have executed very well.”
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