The Kindersley Klippers are home. After being forced out of the West Central Events Center late last season when the rink suffered severe damage after a fire destroyed a nearby practice arena forcing the Klippers to play the remainder of the season in Eston. With over 900 people in attendance, Kindersley returned to the WCEC Saturday night with a win over the Battlefords. They followed that up the next night with a convincing win over Weyburn.
“It was the longest road trip of my life," said head coach Larry Wintoneak. "It's finally over, and it's been good to get back. Not only was it hard on us, but it was hard on the people of Kindersley because the rink is part of the community’s fabric.”
Renovations to the rink cost 1.4 million dollars and all making their way inside the facility Saturday believe the home of the Klippers is now one of the nicest venues in the SJHL for any team to play.
While the Klippers are glad to be home, the story of the league continues to be the play of the Humboldt Broncos. The host team for the 2012 Royal Bank Cup is still the class of the league after three weeks as they are a perfect 6-0. Yorkton just about knocked off the Broncos on Wednesday, but Humboldt captain Riley Gillies scored in overtime for a 3-2 win. The Broncos also improved their lineup when Jeremy Boyer came to the club after being placed on waivers by the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades. Boyer had four points for the Broncos in a win Saturday over Weyburn.
The Yorkton Terriers are showing those in the Sherwood Conference that they are not giving up their division title without a fight. Many wondered who would score for the Terriers after Clarke Breitkreuz and Robbie Ciolfi at the start of the season. The answer to the question is several players like Zak Majkowski and Craig Eisenhut. The Terriers take on Humboldt in Yorkton on Tuesday night in a game that should have the Farrell Agencies Arena full.
SJHL president Laury Ryan has been busy talking to various media outlets like “The Regina Leader-Post”, CBC, and News Talk Radio about the amount of suspensions the league has given out at the start of the year.
"The actions we're taking now are aggressive, "Ryan told CBC News."We've taken aggressive action to try and manage that risk. I expected to see a brief spike in the number of suspensions we would have as players adjust. Player protection comes first and I think fans, even those who like hard hitting hockey, will see we are doing that. I don't think we should be putting kids at risk for somebody's entertainment,"
The latest CJHL rankings are out and there are still two teams in the top 20, but the Flin Flon Bombers have fallen out. Replacing them are the Yorkton Terriers who are 19th. Humboldt’s perfect 6-0 start now have them as the number 2 ranked junior “A” team in the nation behind only the Markham Waxers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
WEEKLY AWARDS
SHERWOOD PLAYER OF THE WEEK— SANFRED KING (KINDERSLEY KLIPPERS)
The Klippers got eight points from King in back to back wins over the Battlefords and Weyburn. The eight point week puts the Brandon, Manitoba native into a tie for the SJHL scoring lead with Yorkton’s Clarke Breitkreuz. Both have 14 points, but King has his in six games while Breitkreuz has done it in seven.
SHERWOOD DEFENCEMAN OF THE WEEK- BLAINE TENDLER (YORKTON TERRIERS)
The 20 year old product of Viceroy, Saskatchewan had a goal and three assists in a big home ice win over Estevan. He also helped the Terriers shut down a potent Humboldt offence as they managed to take a point from the Broncos losing in overtime.
SHERWOOD GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK- BRODY HOFFMAN (NIPAWIN HAWKS)
The Hawks got their first wins of the season by taking both ends of a home and home against rival Melfort. The 19 year old from Wilkie, SK stopped 37 shots in Friday’s win and stopped 38 more in Saturday’s victory. Hoffman leads the league in save percentage at .920
POWER RANKINGS
1. HUMBOLDT BRONCOS – Can anyone argue this? They are 6-0 and are ranked #2 in the country.
2. KINDERSLEY KLIPPERS – The Klippers couldn’t wait to get home after playing their first four on the road and it showed. They were fantastic in wins over the Battlefords and Weyburn.
3. ESTEVAN BRUINS – The Bruins split their two games this week, but they are still not complaining with where they sit in the Sherwood Conference.
4. FLIN FLON BOMBERS – Mike Reagan’s crew won one and lost one this week. The Bombers have played 5 of 6 at home but that changes this week as they play four times on the road.
5. YORKTON TERRIERS – Trent Cassan’s team isn’t dazzling anyone, but they are getting the job done and that’s what you want. This team is going to be better than some suggested.
6. NIPAWIN HAWKS – The Hawks got their first two wins of the year over the rival Melfort Mustangs. Doug Johnson is still tinkering with his lineup, but he is assembling a good hockey team. When he gets a good 2nd line to compliment Matthew Spafford’s line, look out.
7. MELFORT MUSTANGS – The Mustangs are a talented squad, but they couldn’t find a way to beat Nipawin’s Brody Hoffman when it counts and as a result dropped a pair to their rivals.
8. LA RONGE ICE WOLVES – You can’t say much about a team that didn’t play a game over the past seven days. Does Bob Beatty even know what type of team he has when they’ve played three games over three weeks?
9. NOTRE DAME HOUNDS – The Hounds know how to keep the puck out of the net, but they don’t know how to put it in yet having scored just 15 goals in six games. Kevin White may be wishing Travis Janke was still around. Too bad he’s not.
10. MELVILLE MILLIONAIRES – Brayden Metz got off to a slow start, but he has 10 points in his last 5 games and as he has gone so have the Mills. The captain has taken this team on his back early on.
11. BATTLEFORDS STARS – What is going on in the Battlefords? Everyone knows this is a much better team than what the results show. Ken Pearson has to be extremely frustrated with the way things have gone to start 10-11.
12. WEYBURN RED WINGS – Why are the Wings coming up last? They have given up 21 goals in their last two games. They did beat the Battlefords 7-1 and should probably be ahead of the Stars, but you can’t ignore giving up 21 in two games.
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