NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL
BY: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds
1. Berk is Back! – Was in Melville on Friday night for the Hounds-Mils game, and it was great to see Millionaires’ goaltender Berk Berkeliev back in action from his widely publicized injury, after getting hit by then-Yorkton forward Greg Mulhall in mid-September. I am happy to announce that the Calgary native Berkeliev was magnificent on the night, stopping 35 of 36 ND shots, and almost single-handedly making a game, that could easily have been 5 or 6-0 Hounds, into only a 2-0 contest with an empty-netter. He would go on to make 41 of 42 stops the next night in Estevan in a 5-1 Mils victory, and he looks to be in a time-share with former NAHL goaltender Ethan Lahmon. Kyle Adams has iced an incredible six goalies already this season, I’m sure the Melville head coach and GM would like it to stop right there. So far so good for Berk!
2. Battlefords Hits No. 1! – Partly because the Stars spent the week thrashing quality competition in Humboldt, Melfort, and Nipawin, and partly because the incumbents from Alberta, the Brooks Bandits, finally lost a game on Nov. 9 in Spruce Grove, Brayden Klimosko’s mob have finally, and deservedly, hit the No. 1 spot in the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s weekly rankings. They are 22-1, have a goal difference of +56, and already have opened a 13-point gap over second-placed Melfort in the league standings. Not bad…not bad. Klimosko just turned 32 on Nov. 9, pretty impressive for someone his age.
3. ND’s Potential Home Run – Call me biased because I’ve been watching the kid play for years, but I can’t help but feel like Notre Dame hit a potential home run bringing on Toronto-born forward Evan Benwell from Burlington in the OJHL. A former draft pick of the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires, Evan has off-the-charts offensive instincts, and the game just slows down for him, just like it does for his older brother Oliver, who is doing well at the University of Toronto. He’s also super excited and enthusiastic to be a Hound, so it’s a win-win! Can’t wait to see him play his first game Thursday night in La Ronge!
4. Hounds on Fire – Speaking of those Hounds, they are on an absolute tear. Phil Roy’s crew have not lost in regulation in the month of November, and that loss only came once on unfamiliar ice at the neutral-site game in Southey. In fact, outside of a 4-1 home defeat to the Yorkton Terriers on Oct. 25, ND has gone unbeaten in regulation since a 4-3 overtime victory back on Oct. 19 over the Humboldt Broncos; a span of nine contests. They will have to prove they are for real this weekend, as they head northeast to take on La Ronge, Flin Flon, and Nipawin over three days, which is never an easy task. Still, there is an air of confidence among the tight group of Hounds.
5. Hawks in Free Fall? – Anyone ever see a Nipawin Hawks team struggle like this before? Now, I am definitely not saying there is any need in Hawk-land to panic, not at all. Six points separate third and eighth in the SJHL, and Nipawin is smack-dab in the middle of all of it, and with a roster that still boasts as much depth up front and in net as anybody, and the always great coaching of Doug Johnson, they are liable to still beat anyone on a given night. Still, three wins in their last 10 is pretty uncommon over the DJ era in Nipawin. Long, long way to go folks!
6. The Big 2 in Melville? – Speaking of long way to go, let’s not be too hasty in judging the Luke Spadafora and Zach Bannister combo in Melville. The club went 0-3 right after the big trade with La Ronge that brought in Bannister, and defenceman Dylan Thackeray, but have gone 2-1 since, with a winnable game at home to Weyburn going on at time of this writing. That being said, I honestly don’t think they are well-suited to play together on the same line, despite the fact they both have great talent. They both want the puck, and both want to be the focal-point of each shift, but I’m sure their Coach Kyle Adams will mix and match the rest of the way to try to get the best out of his two big stars. Where does potential rookie of the year Nic Porterfield, and super underrated speedster Luke Nkwama fit into all this? It will be interesting to see.
7. The Ouellette Effect – Yorkton has gone 6-1-1 since they got goaltender Ryan Ouellette back from the NAHL. You know what they say? Goaltending is 50% of hockey, unless you don’t have it, then it’s 80%. I guess they are in that 50% range now.
8. Petruic’s Streak – It also has not hurt the Terriers at all (quite the opposite, obviously) that captain Chantz Petruic is making a mockery of the SJHL this year. The last time he was held pointless was Sept. 17, that was 22 games ago, and he has 47 points in 24 games at time of this writing. Will he hit 100 like Justin Ball of Melfort did a year ago, when he sniped his way to 103? Will he be the first SJHLer to pass 110 since 2000-2001, when High Prairie, AB’s Tyler Shantz did it for the now-defunct Lebret Eagles? Right now, Petruic is on pace for 116 if he plays all 58 this year. He’s fun to watch folks.
9. To Score First – Stat time! Only two teams in the league are unbeaten after scoring the first goal. Obviously, one of them is the Battlefords North Stars, but perhaps the second one is not as obvious…yes, it’s the Notre Dame Hounds. ND has seven wins, an overtime loss, and a shootout loss when they score the first goal. If you’re wondering, the Stars have never lost when they do it…
10. Flin Flon’s Special Teams…– I’ll wrap it up with another crazy stat…Flin Flon’s special teams have been a cheat code this year. With Major Junior vets Alec Malo and Cole Rafuse running the show, dishing to scoring machine Donovan Houle-Villeneuve, the Bombers PP is clicking at a ridiculous rate of 31%! That’s 12.9% better than the second-best power play in Humboldt! Their PK is also an SJ-best 89.7%, and are the final team in the league to still be in single digits in terms of power-play goals against. Want to beat FF? Don’t take penalties…
(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)
