The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is ready to drop the puck on the 2010-2011 season. The first game of the new year will go Thursday night in Melville. The game will be shown live across the province on Access Communications Channel 7. The league and Access have renewed their partnership that was started last year which is nothing but good news for fans of the league. Starting with the season opener on Thursday, Access will broadcast seven games live and 16 others on a tape delay basis.
“Access Communications is very excited and proud to be a partner of the SJHL,” states Access vice president of marketing and sales Trevor Derksen. “We strongly believe in serving the community and partnering with SJHL is a great way for us to give back. We are happy to expand our coverage this year and know that we will capture and share some great moments on Access7.”
One difference this year in SJHL rinks will be the way the game is called. The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and four other Junior A leagues in Canada have adopted a program which they hope will crack down on violence without eliminating fighting. Its called “The Junior A Supplement” and it has a set of regulations aimed at protecting players by curbing dirty, dangerous play while providing players to be involved in more than one fight a game. SJHL president Laury Ryan believes the two year program will go a long ways to making the game better.
“The Junior A supplement protects the integrity of the game by allowing for the emotion and intensity that players and fans desire while eliminating aspects of the game that do not emphasize skill and speed. “ Ryan states. “The Junior A Supplement we believe will create an environment where skill, speed, and courage are the standard of excellence.
The pre-season saw its fair share of good games. Here is a look at the pre-season standings through games played September 13.
Bauer Conference
Team W L OTL SOL GF GA PTS
Flin Flon 3 2 0 0 16 19 6
La Ronge 2 0 0 0 14 9 4
Humboldt 2 2 0 0 19 19 4
Melfort 2 4 0 0 26 25 4
Nipawin 1 2 1 0 12 19 3
Battlefords 1 4 0 0 13 27 2
Sherwood Conference
Team W L OTL SOL GF GA PTS
Weyburn 4 1 0 0 19 12 8
Estevan 2 2 0 1 16 21 5
Notre Dame 2 1 0 0 11 9 4
Kindersley 2 2 0 0 20 16 4
Yorkton 2 3 0 0 19 27 4
Melville 2 4 0 0 19 14 4
As the season begins, it is believed across the province that many teams have a shot at reaching and winning the Credit Union Cup and perhaps going to the Royal Bank Cup which will be staged this year in Camrose, Alberta. With the puck about to drop for the first time, here are the first power rankings for the 2010-2011 season.
1. La Ronge Ice Wolves. They are the defending champions so why not put them at the top of the ladder. The team may have lost playoff MVP Dustin Stevenson and many other core players that were key to winning, but Bob Beatty still has many players left from last year’s team that would love nothing more than to make it two in a row.
2. Battlefords Stars. Head Coach Ken Pearson already has a very good lineup with a talented group of forwards including Brett Miller and Colin Phaneuf. They should be near the top of the rankings if not at the top many times this season.
3. Kindersley Klippers. The line of Andrew Dommett, Brayden Adamyk and John Calkins might be the best one in the league. This trio will be hard to stop with all possibly finishing in the top 10 in this year’s scoring race.
4. Estevan Bruins. Head coach Karry Biette admits this is probably the best team he has had during his tenure in Estevan at the start of the season. The addition of Ben Findlay and Joel Danyluk from La Ronge makes this team a serious contender.
5. Weyburn Red Wings. The Wings would love to make their 50th season a special one. If Drew George gets on a roll, he could take Weyburn a long way.
6. Nipawin Hawks. This team has not done well over the past few seasons, but only three players from last year’s team are not back. It’s a nice situation for new coach Doug Johnson to walk into. The Hawks may have the hottest player going into the season as Tanner Dusyk had four goals in his last two pre-season games.
7. Notre Dame Hounds. They lose leading scorer Travis Janke, but the Hounds are confident they have enough offensive production to take a serious run at the title.
8. Flin Flon Bombers. I realize the Bombers are the highest ranked team in the opening CJHL rankings of the year, but they have a major hole to fill with the loss of Kyle Weninger. Matt Lecours, Cory Tyrell, and Tanner Korchinski are solid players in this league and can take their game to the next level. If they do it quickly, the Bombers will rise in these rankings.
9. Humboldt Broncos. The Broncos welcome back SJHL MVP Andrew Bodnarchuk in goal, but with the Broncos hosting the RBC in 2012, will coach Dean Brockman trade guys like Bodnarchuk, and Justin Buzzeo in order to make sure his team is ready to compete for a national title as the host team in 2012? It’s tough to know what way they will go.
10. Melfort Mustangs. There is a good mix of young and new in Melfort. How long will it take for Darrell Mann’s crew to gel.
11. Yorkton Terriers. They have the goaltender in Devin Peters, but who is going to score. Trent Cassan needs to know who he can count on for goal-scoring and hope that Peters can limit the damage until the answer is found.
12. Melville Millionaires. The Millionaires are in the same boat as the Terriers. Great goaltending, but who puts the puck in the net. Jamie Fiesel can perhaps answer that question for me when I visit his fine city Thursday for the season opener.
Games aren’t won on paper, but if they were, you might be able to throw these teams up in the air and come up with several different rankings. There is not a lot separating top to bottom in this league. That should mean for a very entertaining, competitive season that sees many great games and many fans across the SJHL leaving their rink of choice with a smile on their face knowing that either their team has won or that they have seen a very good hockey game.
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