NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

1. So, Can Anyone Breathe? – The parity in the league is stifling! Sure, there is an argument that there are two packs: Battlefords, Melfort, Flin Flon, and Nipawin, and then everyone else – or even Battlefords, and everyone else, for that matter. At any rate, there are only 13 points between second place and 12^th place, and three (yes, 3) between seventh and 12^th! What does this mean for the playoff race? Nothing. It’s way too early for this type of talk 😉

2. More Good News For Yorkton – Don’t look now, but the once-scuttling Yorkton Terriers are on top of the Viterra Division. The best news to come out of the Farrell Agencies Arena this week is that their playoff hero from last year, goaltender Ryan Ouelette, is back! The Colorado native who had an up-and-down regular season, but an incredible post-season a year ago, has come back north after posting numbers with the North American Hockey League’s Minnesota Wilderness that were not too bad, actually (2.71, .913 in six games). Not sure why it didn’t work out for him down there, but you have to think he’s a pretty big upgrade in net for Matt Hehr’s mob.

3. The Iwa Difference – If you follow my column at all, you’ll know that I pay the most attention to (and am paid to pay attention to) the Notre Dame Hounds, so it really does strike me the intriguing difference to the balance of the squad when Braydon Iwaschuk is in vs. when he isn’t. The Albertan has dealt with some injury this year so far, but was in for four of the club’s five wins at time of writing, while playing in only seven of the team’s 14 contests to date. Obviously, this is MOSTLY coincidental, but Bray is an elite, elite penalty killer in this league, has underrated skill, can skate, competes like a dog, and he’s strong as an ox. ND is just better when he’s in, and I really believe D1 scouts should be paying close attention to the 6-foot-1, 200-pound 2001-born winger.

4. Don’t Take Penalties vs Flon – Just don’t. Through 14 games, their PP is clicking at an incredible 30 per cent, and their top line of Alec Malo, Donovan Houle-Villeneuve, and Cole Rafuse have combined for 42 power-play points already! IN ONLY 14 GAMES! Wild stuff. Eight of Houle-Villeneuve’s 15 goals, and half of Rafuse’s, have come with the man advantage, so stay out of the box! Easier said than done though, as Mike Reagen’s Bombers have the second most power plays in the league at time of writing.

5. Are The Klips Waking Up? – I don’t know! Interim Co-Coach Rylan Ferster packed up and went home this past week, right before the Kindersley Klippers began a three-game winning streak with victories over Notre Dame, Weyburn, and Estevan. All three of those clubs were struggling and are far younger than Kindersley, who I truly see as having underachieved big-time to this point, but hopefully for the great fans of the Klippers it is a real revitalization. Now if only they’d get a broadcaster!

6. Surprise Move by Weyburn – I don’t know if I’m in the minority here, but I am surprised Weyburn moved on from Aaron De Kok in net. The Lethbridge, AB native was dealt to Dryden in the Superior International Junior Hockey League after seven games, and while he was up-and-down, I think he really did show flashes. Was he great overall? I wouldn’t say so, but I wonder if they do in fact have someone else in mind coming in after leaving Noah Decottignies as the only tender on the roster at time of writing. Nobody gives goalies time to figure it out in this world!

7. ND’s Newbies – Small sample size, but I really like what I’ve seen from the two newest Hounds: goaltender Logan Dyck, and defender Ben Hamilton. The veteran Dyck was solid and gave ND a real chance to win, despite taking the L, on Thursday against Kindersley, especially in the first half of the game. Hamilton, whom ND grabbed from Salmon Arm in the BCHL, isn’t speedy, but is so rarely caught out of position, makes an excellent first pass, and I love his decisiveness with the puck. Both of them are awesome young men too, and, from what I’m told, are fitting in perfectly with the group.

8. Coach’s Challenge? – There was a play in the third period between Notre Dame and Humboldt on Saturday that had me thinking. Big Hounds centreman Cole Stevenson drove wide down right-wing toward the Broncos net, Michael Harroch made a great save with his stick on the power move, but was on the other side of the goal and ND defender Cody Lehner followed up with the empty net tap-in on the clearly uncovered puck. The referee had blown the play dead before Lehner poked the puck in, claiming that the puck was frozen, which, given Harroch’s positioning, was clearly impossible, and after a discussion with the full referee and linesman staff, the call was overturned and ND awarded the late game-tying goal. But, I’ve seen so many situations like that where refs won’t even talk about an event like that, so I was wondering about the possibility of a coach’s challenge in the SJ wherein, obviously while there is no video review available, a coach can at least request once a game for the referees to seriously discuss and consider overturning a decision. Maybe this would just turn into a stall tactic, but I don’t know…just a thought.

9. A Rivalry You Might Not Know? – Speaking of that ND-Humboldt game on Saturday…what a game! What a rivalry! They’ve played each other a lot over the years, of course, but even without geography on its side, it’s a real war on ice. Been a fun one to call and watch since I came into the league.

10. Wexit! (bonus) – Wexit?

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)