NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL: TRADE DEADLINE

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

Big week! Here goes!

1. Busy Trade Deadline! – Busy couple days before, and at the trade deadline around the league, though the most earth-shattering moves came in late Nov. and early Dec., in my opinion. That said, teams did some solid business, with the winners at the deadline being the Nipawin Hawks, who moved on from two guys in Zach Cox and Austen Flaman that didn’t seem to fit Doug Johnson’s system, and brought in proven players in Riley Bruce, Portage’s (Manitoba League’s top team) top scorer, and the solid ex-Swift Current Broncos prospect Greyson Stewart from Whitecourt in the Alberta League. More on the Hawks in a bit! Melville got a couple young list players and cash from Flin Flon for Zach Bannister, so that ends that chapter!

2. Showcase Rosters Out – Commish Bill Chow can never make everyone happy about the way the Showcase rosters are picked, but with a few minor exceptions, I’m fine with the group that will represent the SJ at the event starting on the 21^st in Regina. I don’t agree that guys with major junior experience should be excluded, as they’re often trying to catch the eyes of USports coaches too, but other than that, I’ll give it a big ol’ shrug. Fans and teams who don’t like how many Battlefords or Flin Flon guys are there should just get more consistent rosters, that’s how I see it. Buuuuuuuut Melville’s Jonathan Krahn should be there, as should La Ronge’s Logan Holm, as both have been super important players for their respective teams all year as young guns; but what do I know?

3. Humboldt Welcomes Big Piece Back – I talked to Scott Barney back in October wondering when Chase Lacombe, the fine young 2002 defencemen playing for the Swift Current Broncos, would be back with the Broncos; apparently the answer is a few minutes before the roster freeze deadline kicked in. Yes, Humboldt’s defence-corps is young, but boy are they a solid, exciting crew. They will be no fun for anyone to face come playoff time. I still can’t believe they got Luke Spadafora back…

4. Giving Estevan Its Due – I got a comment on last week’s column about how I didn’t give the Estevan Bruins, who have gone unbeaten in six, their due. Truth be told, I’ve been writing about being high on the Bruins all year, expecting their strong, consistent performances, mixed with about a million games in hand, and a much friendlier schedule in 2020, will, in my mind, all-but guarantee them a playoff spot. Captain Jayden Davis, who has all the talent in the world in this league, was challenged to be more productive in early December, and he has really answered the bell. They’ve always had Keenan Rancier in net, and he is a deserving all-star.

5. The Team To Watch In 2020 Is… – The Nipawin Hawks. As I mentioned before, Doug made some really solid moves at the deadline, so if young Ross Hawryluk can keep up his form in the sticks, watch out. I’ve written about how I couldn’t understand how such a talented group was struggling so much, by Nipawin standards of course, which still means they’ve solidly been in a playoff spot all year, but there you have it. They responded really well right after the trade deadline by smashing La Ronge in a home-in-home by a combined score of 15-3 (in two games!), with one of them on provincial television on SaskTel Max. Getting Jack Lenchyshyn back and sharp on the back end is also absolutely critical to the Hawks’ long-term success as the brother of another former Hawk, Thomas, is the real deal.

6. Hobson Saga Over – The curious tale of the 2019-2020 SJHL campaign of ex-Portland Winterhawk and Swift Current Broncos defender Jake Hobson has unfortunately ended with a season-ending, and junior-career-ending, hip injury. Hobson was big-time in Melfort’s run to the final last year, but was moved to Kindersley, then flipped to La Ronge to play with his buddy Kyle Schneider before the Dec. 1 deadline. If you include an AP stint with Weyburn back in the 2015-16 season, Hobson was part of eight different junior organizations over five years. Cheers to him. He will close out his junior career as an Ice Wolf, where he only played in five games.

7. Flon Flon’s Goalie Solution?  – Only time will tell if Mike Reagan will feel if Burlington, ON-native and big 18-year-old Cal Schell is the answer he and the Bombers have been looking for in net. Reagan made no bones about wanting a big boy to be the 1a, 1b with the smaller, athletic Jacob Delorme, but at time of writing, one supposes Schell will get the chance to be the eighth (yes, the 8^th!) different man to get a crack at starting a game for the mighty Flin Flon club. They did need to find someone though, as 20-year-old Kyle Jessiman, who was the most recent partner to Delorme, had departed for Concordia in Canadian University hockey.

8. Battlefords Goalie Situation? – Much like Flin Flon, Brayden Klimosko and the Stars are hoping to find their goaltending solution in a hitherto struggling BCHL goaltender. Kristian Lyon comes in to the defending champs from the Langley Rivermen, while Parker Rey departs for Swan Valley in the Manitoba League. They had three goalies before, and they still have that same three-goalie situation, as Adam Dmyterko, and Austin Schwab are still with the club as well. All I can guess is that Klimosko is hoping one of the three catch fire, though I actually thought Rey was the best of the three when I was watching. Schwab is the youngest, and Dmyterko is a returnee, so I suppose Rey would have had to really really shine to earn the spot. We’ll see how they fit Lyon in with the Stars back to the being the team we all expect them to be as the calendar turned to 2020. Lyon did have great numbers in BC Junior B last year, mind you.

9. Wolves Messing With A Good Thing? – Yes, the Wolves got thumped by Nipawin last weekend, but I am not claiming to say that anything IS wrong in La Ronge. That being said, they made even more moves at the deadline, bringing in Holden Knights from Salmon Arm, and veteran Ty Budai, a defender from old bench boss Bob Beatty in Fort MacMurray (Beatty has since been let go). They also let go of some of their sandpaper in Macrae Setoguchi, Samson Mouland, and Sebastien Archambault, so with all the moves made over the year in La Ronge, it’ll be interesting to see if Kevin Kaminski and his leadership team led by captain Ben Manson can hold that team chemistry together. The Wolves clearly want to be considered part of the Battlefords-Flin Flon pack taking aim at a championship, and with Hobson gone, the La Ronge line-up keeps evolving and changing.

10. Petruic Watch – Chantz Petruic is now over 100 points in 47 games. I’ll say it again: if you can watch him this year at any rink around Saskatchewan (and in Flin Flon), do it. 

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)