After a busy week with three games on the ice, the Nipawin Hawks were also busy off it as they made a change to their roster.
The Hawks added some young depth to their blue-line as they acquired 18-year-old Ante Mustapic from the Bonnyville Pontiacs in exchange for a player development fee.
The 6’4” Vancouver native comes to the Hawks with just 12 games of SJHL experience with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the British Columbia Hockey League, and the Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he has posted just two assists.
“We wanted more of a D first defenseman; a guy that can really control the corners, make a good outlet pass. The great thing with his age, there’s going to be a lot of room for growth and improvement within these next couple of years,” notedDoug Johnson, the Hawks’ head coach and general manager.
The move to acquire Mustapic helps the Hawks get a little deeper on the blue-line, and solidifies the back end a little more, says Johnson.
With Mustapic standing 6’4” tall, he will also provide a tremendous amount of size on the Hawks blue-line, which will help, said Johnson, who added it was not the main reason they targeted him.
“We’ve seen big guys, you look at the stats and you have vague game reports on them where you’re a little reluctant because then you’re just getting a guy with size... the familiarity of Ante was the driving force with what we needed but obviously the size is kind of the cherry on top.”
Johnson admitted to having interest in Mustapic in the past, noting he actually tried recruiting him to play for the Hawks last season, before Mustapic chose to play for Okanagan Hockey Academy and the Silverbacks.
Mustapic played his first game as a Hawk in their 5-4 overtime win over the Estevan Bruins on Nov. 12 and was held pointless.
His next chance to pick up his first point as a Hawk comes Nov. 17 when the Hawks play host to the Flin Flon Bombers.
Nipawin Hawks vs. Melfort Mustangs, Nov. 10
A poor second period was the difference as the Nipawin Hawks fell 2-1 to the Melfort Mustangs in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Melfort.
After a solid first period Nov. 10, the wheels fell off a little for the Hawks in the second as they were outshot 14-7, gave up the only goal and were shorthanded three times.
“I thought that penalties kind of took away some of our momentum and we also were not able to capitalize on our chances,” noted Doug Johnson, the Hawks’ head coach of their second period.
After a quiet first period that saw neither team find the back of the net, the Mustangs struck first in period two as Tristen Elder scored his first of the year in his first game since being acquired by the Mustangs.
“He’s a big-time player. It’s good to see he’s getting some success with his first game. He’s going to have to shake some rust off here yet but it was a good start for him,” noted Trevor Blevins, the Mustangs’ head coach.
The game remained 1-0 in favour of the Mustangs until early in the third when Andrew Thompson score his sixth of the season to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks pushed to get back in the game, but a goal off the stick of Brett Harasymuk with 23 seconds left in the game, was too little too late for the Hawks in their 2-1 loss.
Offensively, the Hawks struggled on the evening, as they managed just the one goal in the final minute, and only 23 shots on goal.
Johnson was quick to credit the Mustangs for their effort defensively, but says a lot of the blame falls on his team for their inability to score.
“We had chances, we didn’t bury and that’s been a theme for us lately. We also didn’t generate a lot of second opportunity chances, we didn’t have guys going to the net, we did not have guys willing to battle and win the confrontations one-on-one and it showed in the outcome of the game.”
The win pushed the Mustangs six points clear of the Hawks at the time and improved their head-to-head record against the Hawks to 4-0 on the season, which is huge, said Blevins.
“It’s going to come down to those divisional games typically... we play them ten times so for our start to be 4-0 against them is huge, but it’s a long season yet and there’s definitely a lot that can happen… we’re happy with our start against a tough rival like Nipawin, they’re always tough every year.”
Nipawin Hawks vs. Estevan Bruins, Nov. 12
Kenzie Arnold played the overtime hero as the Nipawin Hawks knocked off the visiting Estevan Bruins 5-4 in overtime in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action on Nov. 12.
The game got off to an excellent start for the Hawks as they scored twice in the first 15:54 of the opening period as both Carter Doerksen and Brandan Arnold found the back of the net.
Unfortunately for the Hawks a poor stretch of play put them behind the eight ball to end the first as the Bruins scored three times in a span of 2:45 to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
“You look at every single goal they scored in that 2:30 stretch and it was because of laziness and poor execution,” said Doug Johnson, the head coach.
After the second period finished scoreless, the Hawks kicked off their comeback in the third as Austin Mikesch scored to tie the game and Gage Misskey scored to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead.
The Bruins managed a late goal to send the game into overtime tied at four.
In the extra session, Kenzie Arnold wasted little time playing the hero as he scored just 34 seconds into overtime to give the Hawks the win.
Despite pulling out the win Johnson was not overly pleased with how his team was able to play, noting they were making mental mistakes all over the ice.
“It was a concerning game where it should have been an easy game for us and we made it much more difficult than it needed to be because guys did not pay attention to detail and made way too many selfish individual mistakes.”
The Hawks did enjoy a solid offensive game, as they had 12 different players hit the scoresheet, which is big says Johnson.
Declan Hobbs picked up the win in the Hawks goal turning aside 23 of the 27 shots he faced as the Hawks outshot the Bruins 48-27.
The Hawks now enjoy a number of days off before returning to action on Nov. 17 when they welcome the Flin Flon Bombers to town.
Heading into that game, Johnson said he expects to see his guys correct some of the issues that have been plaguing the team, and says he is expecting them to pull out the two points.
