The SJHL This Week

The SJHL Showcase is in the books for this season. Many NHL, NCAA and CIS representatives were on hand in Weyburn to watch all 12 SJHL teams play two games each this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Those that watched had to be impressed with not only the calibre of play that was shown, but the tremendous parity that the league has as there were several very close hockey games.
The best game of the three day affair may have been the game between the Kindersley Klippers and Flin Flon Bombers on Saturday. A goal early in the first period by the Bombers looked as if might hold up right through, but Kindersley scored late in the 3rd on a power-play and then while short-handed, Jordon Hoffman stole the puck and beat P.J Musico with a nifty backhander to give the Klippers the dramatic victory.
Many involved with the league were paying a very close eye on how the Melfort Mustangs looked. The Mustangs, who are involved in a tight four way race atop the Bauer Conference, didn’t dismantle their team but they made several moves at the December 1 deadline which was odd considering their standing. Head coach Darrell Mann says there was a method to his madness that saw the team pick up four new players while dispatching four elsewhere.
“It was just a case of wanting to add a little bit. We felt like we needed to add to our scoring so we though adding some offensive guys would give us that extra punch going into the 2nd half of the season.” Mann said. “It was an opportunity for us to bring in some guys and move some guys that wanted to go home. I think we picked up some quality guys and I really like what we’ve got in the room now. “
The RBC Players of the Month for November were named last week. The player of the month is La Ronge’s Travis Eggum. Defenceman honours went to Chris Neurauter of the Battlefords Stars, the top goaltender was Devin Peters of the Terriers with teammate Davis Vandane being selected as the month’s top rookie.


SHERWOOD PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Marc Andre-Carre (La Ronge Ice Wolves)The 1991 born forward from Baie Comeau, Quebec has been one of the top players in the SJHL all season and he showed that at the SJHL showcase this weekend. Carre had 5 goals and 5 assists in four games this past week. One of those goals was a highlight reel goal against the Battlefords in what might have been the goal of the season. It’s the 2nd time this year that Carre has won the award.

SHERWOOD DEFENCEMAN OF THE WEEK – Tanner McCall (Weyburn Red Wings)The Weyburn Red Wings won all three of their games over the past seven days. One of the reasons for that was the play of Tanner McCall. The 1990 born defenceman from Regina was rock solid behind the Wings blueline and was one of their top players at the Showcase.

SHERWOOD GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK – P.J Musico (Flin Flon Bombers)There are many good goaltenders in the SJHL and right up at the top of the debate as to who the best is is the 1990 born puckstopper from Orange, California. Musico was at the top of his game this past week winning two of three starts, registering his first shutout of the season and stopping 92 of 96 shots sent his way.

POWER RANKINGS


1. Yorkton Terriers – The Terriers showed at the Showcase why they are the SJHL’s top team as they were on the top of their game. If they keep playing the way they are, they could very well be the team that wins the league final instead of the team that loses it as was the case last year.



2. La Ronge Ice Wolves – The line of Doug Lindensmith, Marc Andre-Carre and Travis Eggum might be the most dominant line in all of Canadian Junior “A” Hockey. The three are 1-2-3 in league scoring right now.



3. Flin Flon Bombers – There were some whispers in Weyburn that Sunday’s game between the Bombers and Terriers might be a finals preview. The Bombers definitely have a team that could be there at the end.



4. Melfort Mustangs – Did Darrell Mann’s December 1 gamble pay off? We’ll find out over the next couple of weeks.



5. Weyburn Red Wings – The Wings won three in a row including both of their games in front of the home crowd at the Showcase. They’re not flashy, but they are efficient.



6. Estevan Bruins – The Bruins are one of those teams in the middle of the pack that can either move into the league’s elite or stay as one of those 2nd tier teams. Its up to the guys in the room to decide what they want.



7. Kindersley Klippers – Read Estevan’s comment and replace Bruins with Klippers.



8. Humboldt Broncos – The Broncos look nothing like the team that roared out of the gate. Can Dean Brockman’s crew find that winning touch again or will they continue to tumble?



9. Battlefords Stars – The team has what it takes offensively, but they seem to be missing something defensively. If they can reduce the mistakes made behind their own blueline, they will find more wins than losses.



10. Melville Millionaires- Jamie Fiesel’s team is playing better hockey of late, but they still have a lot of work to do to start climbing up the Sherwood Conference leaderboard.



11. Notre Dame Hounds – If the Hounds don’t want to be on the outside looking in come playoff time, they have to start making a move and start picking up some positive results.



12. Nipawin Hawks – When the Hawks are on the same page, they can play some good hockey as evidenced by their win Saturday over Humboldt. They need more efforts like that and guys like Matthew Spafford, Jonathan Ceci and Brody Hoffman can give it to them.