SWHL - A wild weekend in the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) resulted in some movement in the standings and some shifting of games (thanks to Mother Nature). In first is the Kindersley Sr Klippers at 8-2-1, followed by a tie in second between the Wilkie Outlaws and the Hafford Hawks at 8-2. In a tie for fourth is the Edam 3 Stars at 4-4 and the Macklin Mohawks at 4-5. In sixth is the Biggar Nationals at 1-6-2, followed by the Unity Miners at 0-8-1,
On Jan. 12, in a rescheduled game from the day before, the Macklin Mohawks travelled north to Edam for a game against the 3 Stars and it was the home team coming away with a 4-2 victory.
Keegan Tiringer and Cody Mckinnon traded goals for the respective teams for a 1-1 draw after 20 minutes. No scoring was reported in the second, however the scoring started early again in the third, as Logan Nachtegaele and Josh LaClare scored a minute apart to open up a 3-1 lead for Edam. McKinnon would cut the lead to 3-2, but Tiringer would score to finalize scoring.
Trevor Martin stopped 41 of 45 shots in the loss, while Taryn Kotchorek stopped 34 of 36 shots in the win.
Also on Jan. 12, in a game rescheduled from Jan. 10, the Wilkie Outlaws welcomed the Kindersley Sr Klippers into town, with the Outlaws securing an 8-4 win.
Mike Sittler (on the power play) and Brett Boehm opened the scoring very quickly for a 2-0 lead. Brock Harrison would tack on another one for a 3-0 lead, but Aiden Bangs would cut the lead down to 3-1. Ryan Keller would extend the lead back to three after 20 minutes. In the middle frame, Byron Ismond would score to cut the lead to 4-2. Mitch Suchan would bring it up to 5-2, however, Markus Boguslavsky (on the power play) would score to cut the lead back down to two. Rick Cey would bring that gap back up to 6-3 after 40 minutes. In the third, Harrison and Boehm would extend that lead further to 7-3 before Hunter Smith’s first of the year would tie a bow on scoring.
Cody Beswitherick took the loss, stopping 41 of 49 shots, while Jared Herle stopped 29 of 33 shots in the win.
In another game that was meant for Friday, the Unity Miners headed north for a contest against the Hafford Hawks, which ended with an 8-2 victory for Hafford.
It was all Hafford in the first, with Brandon Lesko, Kyle Rivett and Quinton Cubbon all scoring for a 3-0 Hawks lead. Quinton would score again in the second to extend the lead further, but Daniel Hilsendager would cut the lead to 4-1. Lesko fired his eighth of the year to open up a 5-1 lead after 40 minutes. Lesko made the hats fly just 17 seconds in the final period, and Connor Neave would add another one for a 7-1 lead. Davis Chorney would cut the lead to 7-1. Kyle Litchenwald’s fifth of the year would round out scoring.
Brett Vanderveer stopped 27 of 35 shots in the loss, while Joel Gryzbowski stopped 43 of 45 shots in the win.
On Jan. 11, the Hafford Hawks headed to Unity for a contest against the Miners, with the Hawks coming away with a 7-3 victory.
Brayden Schultz opened the scoring early to give the Miners a 1-0 lead. Ryan Schaefer would tie it up just four minutes later, with Quinton Cubbon giving the Hawks the lead just two minutes after that. Connor Neave, on the power play, extended the lead to 3-1 after 20 minutes. It was all Hafford in the second as Kobe Kindrachuk (shorthanded), Schaefer and Neave all scored to open up a commanding 6-1 lead after 40 minutes. Ryan Jackson and Justin Gerein both scored their first goal of the year to cut the lead to 6-3, but Brandon Lesko would secure the victory with an empty net goal.
Chase Honan secured the victory, stopping 20 of 23 shots, while Ryan Rewerts took the loss, stopping 29 of 35 shots.
Also on Saturday, the Biggar Nationals hosted the Kindersley Sr Klippers, with the Klippers coming away with the 3-2 OT victory.
Chris Henry opened the scoring just 34 seconds into the game. Newcomer Markus Boguslavsky scored his first as a Klipper to tie it up at one after the first period. In the middle frame, the lone goal came off the stick of Brody Ryberg, giving Kindersley the 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. That lead held all the way to the 2:34 mark of the third, where Derek Nicholls scored his first goal of the year (on the power play) to tie it up and send it to extra time. The OT period was extremely short lived as Boguslavsky was the hero.
Cody Beswitherick stopped 33 of 35 shots for the win, while Brett Matlock took the loss, stopping 32 of 35 shots.
Quickly looking at provincials, as all seven SWHL teams entered Hockey Sask Provincials. In the ‘A’ Division, the Hafford Hawks open up in the quarter finals against the Kenaston Blizzard of the Sask Valley Hockey League. In the ‘B’ Division, the Biggar Nationals are set up in the semi-finals to play the Davidson Cyclones of the Sask Valley Hockey League. The winner of this series will play the Kindersley Klippers in the North Final. In the ‘C’ Division, the defending Jack Abbott Memorial Trophy winner Wilkie Outlaws open up their defense in the quarter finals against the Outlook Ice Hawks of the Sask Valley Hockey League, while the Unity Miners will open up their quarter final play against the Eston Ramblers of the Sask Valley Hockey League. In the ‘D’ Division, the J.W Hamilton Trophy winner Macklin Mohawks will start their title defense in the quarter finals against their Sask West rivals in the Edam 3 Stars. All series are best-of-3, with dates to be determined.
The upcoming weekend is loaded with important matchups. On Jan. 17, Kindersley hosts Edam and Unity travels to Macklin. Both games are at 8:30 p.m. On Saturday, Biggar heads west to Unity, Hafford hosts Wilkie and Macklin hosts Edam. All games are at 8 p.m.
