CANORA - “Tonight, two heavyweights collide!”
With those words, Voice of the Cobras Pat Miechkota pretty much summed up the Jan. 24/25 weekend for Canora which saw them successfully defend home ice, defeating the Langenburg Warriors 5-2 on Friday, and then taking care of business against longtime rivals, the Theodore Buffalos with a 7-4 win on Saturday.
The Cobras won Game 1 of provincials at Carnduff 5-2 on Jan. 31, and then travelled back home to defeat Esterhazy 8-1 in the final game of the SEHL regular season on Feb. 1.
Against Langenburg
The Jan. 24 game against Langenburg carried extra meaning because the Warriors came into Canora only trailing the Cobras by a single point in the standings. If Langenburg was to finish ahead of the Cobras, the Warriors would have home ice advantage if the two teams met in the second round of the playoffs. But the Cobras came out on top, and now have the knowledge that they will open round two of the playoffs on home ice if they advance that far.
Langenburg played a determined first period and went to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead. Cobras Coach Darren Scwartz said it looked like the Cobras weren’t at the top of their game initially.
“After having a two-week break, we start out slower,” said Schwartz. “But we got going later on.”
When the Cobras took a penalty early in the second period, it looked like they were in danger of seeing that deficit grow. But a shorthanded goal by Scott Mickoski of Regina “brought up our confidence,” said Scwartz. “In a tight game like that, you’ve got to find a way to score.”
Langenburg followed that goal with one of their own to retake the lead, but the Cobras tied the score on a goal by Derrick Schwartz of Runnymede with only 3.5 seconds left in the middle period.
“Scoring late in the period like that is a real momentum changer. We made a good play and the first shot was stopped, but he got the rebound and put it in the net.”
Coach Scwartz was pleased with his team’s third period, as the Cobras outscored the visitors 3-0.
“We played very well, we were strong on defense and that led to scoring opportunities. That was a big game for us, to wrap up home ice in the second round.”
In addition to Mickoski and Schwartz, Kody Rock and Carter Dereniwsky of Canora and Tanner Mak of Yorkton were the other goal scorers for the Cobras. Mickoski also added an assist. Vaughn Wilgosh was the top playmaker with two assists.
Against Theodore
The next evening the Theodore Buffalos came into Canora with plenty of incentive to win, locked in a three-team battle to earn home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
“We have a bigtime rivalry with them, and we found out just before the game that we were missing two of our regular players,” said Schwartz. “But we went ahead with the ‘next man up’ mentality and took care of business.”
For the second night in a row, the game was tight through two periods. The two teams split six goals evenly through the first 20 minutes, and then the Cobras edged ahead 5-4 by the end of the second period.
The two teams sniped four power play goals each during the game. While Schwartz was pleased to see his power play clocking at a high level of efficiency, he didn’t appreciate the referees playing such a significant role in the game.
“We have to stay out of the box. I hate it when the refs get so involved, there were a lot of iffy calls against Theodore,” said Schwartz.
“But I liked how we played our game. We’ve got to play physical, strong and keep on hitting.”
Derrick Schwartz of Runnymede led Cobras scorers against Theodore with four points, all assists. Top goal scorers were Brett Duczek of Grayson and Scott Mickoski of Regina with a pair each, Mickoski also added an assist. Other goal scorers were Tanner Denesowych, Vaughn Wilgosh and Ryley Stefanyshyn, all of Canora, with a goal apiece. Wilgosh and Stefanyshyn each chipped in with assists.
Schwartz was pleased to see that the Cobras outscored Theodore 2-0 in the final period to wrap up the win, giving them a combined 5-0 third period advantage in the two weekend games.
“That’s a good trend. We shut out the other teams and scored on our chances. Good defence leads to good offence, I’ve preached that since I’ve been with the Cobras the last three years.”
Brad Sentes of Regina had a strong weekend in goal, picking up both wins for the Cobra.
Against Carnduff
The Cobras opened their quest for a provincial championship on Jan. 31 with Game 1 of the best-of-three first round series against the Carnduff Red Devils.
After making the three-and-a-half hour bus ride to Carnduff, Cobras Coach Darren Schwartz said, “They really came at us in the first period, but we weathered the storm, got our legs under us and adjusted.”
The Cobras led 3-2 after 20 minutes, and then played Carnduff to a scoreless draw in the second period. Schwartz was pleased with his team and how they stuck to the system.
“They only had maybe four or five shots in the second period, and their goalie stood on his head. They don’t appear to like hitting. Once we started hitting, they backed off.”
The Cobras picked up goalie Colby Entz from the Churchbridge Imperials for this game, and Schwartz said he played well.
“We scored a couple of goals in the third, and Colby stood tall to keep them off the scoreboard.”
Kody Rock and Scott Mickoski each tallied a pair of goals for the Cobras, with Mickoski adding an assist. Carter Dereniwsky was the other goal scorer. Derrick Schwartz was the top playmaker with two assists.
Against Esterhazy
The Cobras wrapped up the SEHL regular season with a game against the undermanned visiting Esterhazy Flyers on Feb. 1.
“They only had 10 players,” said Cobras Coach Derrick Schwartz. “We didn’t play our best game, but that’s hard to do in that situation when the game didn’t mean anything for our playoff positioning.”
Brad Sentes had another solid game in goal, and the Cobras are now awaiting the return of their other goalie Rylan Palchewich from paternity leave.
Derrick Schwartz led the Cobras offence against Esterhazy with four goals and an assist. Scott Mickoski sniped a pair, while Troy Zulyniak of Yorkton and Max Flaherty of Canora scored singles, with Flaherty adding an assist. Carter Dereniwsky led playmakers with three assist, and Kody Rock, Vaughn Wilgosh and Tanner Mak each chipped in with a pair.
Schwartz said he has been pleased with how the Cobras responded after he called a team meeting following a game against Cote in early January.
“We’re playing the way we want to play now, that meeting probably turned it around for us. We needed to play a more defensive style.”
Game 2 of the provincial first-round playoff series against Carnduff goes in Canora on Saturday, Feb. 8, where the Cobras can wrap up the opening round series with a win. If Game 3 is necessary, it will be in Canora on Feb. 9.
Coach Schwartz is hoping for a big crowd to cheer on the Cobras.
“Carnduff has a good team. Their top line can really play. We’re going to have to bring our best game.”
In the SEHL playoffs, the Cobras will meet up with Wapella in the first round, dates to be announced.
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