NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds/DUBNetwork MJ Warriors Beat Writer

PLAYOFFS? DID YOU SAY, PLAYOFFS?: That’s right, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs are kicking off Friday night when it is planned that all four series will get going. I’m going to use a bunch of this column to give a few thoughts on each series, but make sure you check out Rory McGouren and my SJ at Noon Playoff Preview Special to be released Thursday on the SJHL Facebook and social media pages!
Estevan-ND: Pretty excited to call some playoffs, as Friday night’s Game 1 at beautiful Affinity Place in Estevan will be Game #180 of my Notre Dame Hounds Junior A calling career, and only the sixth playoff game (and first in an actual Best-of-Seven series, the others being the defunct “Survivor Series” Best-of-Three play-ins). Not many outside are giving the No. 8 seed Hounds a lot of chance against the mighty Bruins, ranked No. 10 in the National Rankings this week, but I can tell you there are lots on the inside of the ND camp of confidence to make this a real series. Kev Anderson was named one of the CJHL National Stars of the Month in February and has been outstanding the last couple of months (all year, really), while Jaryd Sych has just been a mountain on the blueline playing huge minutes. How much gas will Sych have if this series goes long? On the Estevan side, the weaponry they can bring to bear is clearly the most impressive I’ve seen in my five seasons in the SJ, with an assortment of guys that could easily be doing serious jobs in the Canadian Hockey League. The Bruins scored 30 goals in four games against the young Hounds in the regular season, but as the old saying goes, none of it matters when the puck drops for Game 1 of the playoffs; the slate is wiped blank! Can’t wait for the atmosphere in Estevan Friday! I hope the student’s section shows up big time for Games 3 and 4 (and beyond) at ND next Tuesday and Thursday, but we’ll have to see!
Humboldt-La Ronge: I call this one the ‘Bully Bowl’, as these two penalty-minute leaders in the SJ will go at it with their 1500+ PIMs each through ought the regular season. Captain Holden Knights is back for the La Ronge Ice Wolves, I hear, which is an enormous add, and if Mkyllen Couture is also back on the blueline then this rested and recharged Ice Wolves team could challenge the mighty No. 11 CJHL ranked Broncos – I think so anyway. There is so much depth, connectedness, and heavy, aggressive, experienced talent on this Humboldt team, starting in net with SJHL goalie wins record holder Rayce Ramsay, and it just doesn’t get easier when facing any line. I expect great atmospheres in both rinks, and the Wolves’ in their barn might be a bit of an equalizer…but who’s kidding who, it’s the No. 2 vs the No. 7, and the Broncos are still enormous favourites.
Melfort-Yorkton: Here is where it starts getting dicey but the Melfort Mustangs have been outrageously hot in the last month, since they literally have not lost for over a month, with nine wins and only one shootout setback since Feb. 12. Joel Favreau looks healthy in net, and that’s a huge key for them, while the rest of the squad is getting healthier and with great two-way centreman and captain Ben Tkachuk at the top of the roster, a kid made for playoff hockey, the Mustangs’ have just found a way to win night after night down the stretch. The Terriers have gotten some incredible and timely goaltending from super rookie Kael DePape in the net, and the D pair of Tyson Janzen and Parker Jasper has been as good as anybody in the league. With the likes of veterans Kishaun Gervais and Zach McIntyre, to go with the enormous Eric Boers upfront, there are plenty of ways the Terriers make this very, very hard on the favoured Mustangs, but it all comes down to whether Janzen and Jasper can keep playing as much as they have. Elite sniper Nolan Doell’s move to the win with Tkachuk in the middle on that top unit has been a stroke of pure genius by Trevor Blevins, one of the league’s true veteran coaches.
Battlefords-Flin Flon: Like with most 4-5 matchups, who wants to take a stab at predicting this one? The results have not matched the performances for this extremely talented and experienced Flin Flon team, but a refresh and that great home-ice advantage at the Whitney Forum might just be what this squad needs – not to mention the return to health of their 1b defenceman Cole Vardy beside the league’s best blueliner Xavier Lapointe. Battlefords has found ways to win lately, especially behind magnificent performances from the resurgent Austin Schwab, their last remaining healthy goaltender and the son of former NHLer and current Arizona Coyotes goalie coach Corey. This team is pretty healthy compared to many and plays that in-your-face, physical, speedy game that their excellent coach Brayden Klimosko loves to preach, so this should be an incredible series. Speaking to Klimosko lately, he mentioned that even though the Bombers are as far away from North Battlefords as they are, the matchups this year have yielded a great rivalry between these two storied SJHL clubs. Get your tickets for this one folk, it’ll be a doozy.
100 for Noley: Was happy to see Notre Dame forward Connor Nolan hit his 100^th SJHL game in the final regular-season game of his career Monday. This kid was released as a rookie, but has just worked, and gotten better, and is now one of the elite point producers in the SJHL. He is going to be very important for ND in Round 1 while the Bruins focus a lot of attention on the likes of Kevin Anderson and 37-goal man Elliot Dutil, as with 67 points in the regular year, the veteran has had an incredible season of his own.
Sklaruk is on fire: SKLARUK, SKLARUK, SKLARUK IS ON FIREEEE! It was an outrageously productive and awesome finish to the final regular-season of Yorkton Terriers’ defenceman Tanner Sklaruk’s junior career, as the Stony Plain, AB native enters the playoffs with a six-game point-scoring streak, posting nine points, and finishing second in the SJHL in goals from the defence. Everyone talks about the Janzen-Jasper pair for Yorkton, and for great reason, but Sklaruk absolutely deserves to be part of that equation. Injury has limited what’s behind those Top 3 for the Terriers, but it has to be said: that three is pretty good. Great for Sklaruk, who looked awesome when I saw him in person on Saturday.
Close is still going!: Make it nine starts and nine wins in a row for Justen Close of the University of Minnesota, Kindersley, SK’s own and a long-time Klipper. The former SJHL Goaltender of the Year stopped 28 of 30 on Saturday vs. Penn State to help his Gophers reach the Big 10 Championship next weekend against the stacked University of Michigan Wolverines, but whatever happens next, Close’s story has been incredible since taking over the No. 1 spot at the prestigious UofM in late January. In his first two years in college, he had played unremarkably in a total of four games…Saturday’s championship will be his 18^th in 21-22. Just awesome.
Epic: As the playoff seasons in the SJ, college, and elsewhere are upon us (or are soon to be upon us), I have to take a second to just be so grateful, happy, and reflective on how far this great game has come from the rough, dog days of last year where it felt like these types of moments were so, so far away. Savour every moment of the playoffs folks, buy tickets, get friends to come and buy tickets, support your communities, watch games on HockeyTV, listen on the radio, dig in fully, because it’s going to be great, and it’s been so long since we’ve had this. I cannot wait.
BASEBALL: Finally, a word that BASEBALL IS BACK! YES! The MLB and MLBPA figured their differences out and most players are now training down in Florida or Arizona ahead of the early April start to the season. The Jays are pretty deep everywhere except in the bullpen, where they’re dreadful right now, but it’s really early. I have a lot of optimism for the 2022 Jays, and so should you! I’m just so happy it’s coming back too!