NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL
1. Don’t Panic Stars Fans – That’s right. Don’t. Starting the year 26–5-2, still eight points ahead of second-place Flin Flon, with two new quality pieces in Ben Hiltz and Jaxon Steele still finding their footing in Brayden Klimosko’s system; everything in Battlefords is going to be fine. Being able to weather four losses in a row and five of six, and even more importantly, figure out how to emerge from the potential struggles of complacency that their dominant start might have brought on, will only do this group that already seethes with character and depth some good in the long run. The club is 3-1 when outshot, which means even with that rough last couple of weeks, they’ve still only been outshot four times in 33 games, and only been defeated once out of that span. Klimosko is an outstanding coach, and there is no reason to worry yet about the Stars, in my opinion.
2. Klips on Fire – Meanwhile the Stars’ blood rivals, the Kindersley Klippers, have been on an absolute tear since dealing away a couple veterans, and most importantly, bringing in Matt Sankner in net (more on him later). It isn’t like their manifold new guys, who are younger pieces overall compared to the likes of Kyle Bosch, Cade Benson, and co. who have departed, have filled the net; but as a unit, the Klips have lately proven incredibly hard to play against. Is there a more low-key star in this league than Liam Fraser? Even at the Warman Showcase his skills were on display, and he has cashed in with 18 goals so far this year! I did write a couple columns ago that after unloading most of their vets (though not their awesome leaders Tyler Traptow and Brenden Borbely), they would not be an easy out for anyone the rest of the year. Well, it’s been eight games in a row with at least a point, five of them wins, since Nov. 22, and that awesome job by Larry Wintoneak and his crew of rebuilding is paying off already. Awesome management work up in Kindersley this winter!
3. The Most Even Trade So Far This Year Has Been… – So yes, Sankner. Goalie of the week, dominating Battlefords twice in a row, a 2.36 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage, and has only given up more than two goals in a game once over his last six starts. Is Flin Flon still looking for a goalie…? Seriously though, I have to say that Kindersley’s pickup of the New Jersey-native has to be one of the most even trades of the year so far, with Bombers head coach and GM Mike Reagan no-doubt very happy with the quality two-way defenceman Dane Hirst he got in return. The veteran Hirst is almost a point-per-game on a Flin Flon blue line that, while solid, might have lacked a little bit in the area of creativity before he showed up. What a great trade for both teams.
4. An Interesting Broncos Stat… – Dug through some interesting stats at this point in the year, so here we go. The Humboldt Broncos, maybe the youngest non-Notre Dame Hounds team in SJHL history (had to take that shot), are 6-0-3-2 in one-goal games. They have not lost a regulation one-goal game at time of writing! I have given Scott Barney, their head coach and GM, lots of credit so far this year, and he deserves it. But that stat has even more to do with the extra-detail commitment of his players, who have not backed off from anyone this season. They are in a bit of a rough patch with Barney’s attention at the World Junior A Chellenge, but I don’t expect that to last long as they re-integrate Luke Spadafora into their Top 6 forward corps.
5. An Interesting ND Stat… – Phil Roy’s men are 8-1-3 when scoring the first goal at time of writing, which is great; and also means they have really, really struggled when they don’t score the first goal. They are 5-15-1 when they don’t…nichtsogut, as the Germans say…
6. An Interesting Weyburn stat… – Last interesting stat of the day comes from Weyburn, and I’ve seen a stat like this before, but I’ve never understood what it means. At home, the Wings are an incredible 90.4 per cent on the penalty kill, first in the league by quite a margin, but a putrid 74.5 per cent on the PK on the road, good enough for 11th in the 12-team league. No idea what that means or how that can happen, other than the cliché ‘comfort factor of home’, just thought it was wild.
7. Tough Go For Canada West – Not a very good start for Team Canada West to open the World Junior A Challenge going on in B.C. right now. Losses to the Americans, and a bad 5-1 beatdown at the hands of Canada East, have TCW in a big hole as the only team without a point after two games. With only five teams in the event, it’s a very unforgiving tournament, as everyone is very good, and wins in regulation are worth three points instead of two. Wednesday night’s match-up with Russia is pretty much a must-win, though as I said, everyone in the event looks dynamite. I expected the result against the USA to be touch-and-go to kick off the tournament, but I did not even for a second expect the talent-loaded Westerners to struggle that much against Canada East. Still time to figure it out, with the Top 4 teams going straight to the semis, but not much time.
8. Tip of the Cap to the Klips Social Media – Gotta love the work of the Kindersley Klippers social media people, making a Star Wars themed video surrounding their rivalry and recent string of games against the Battlefords North Stars. Check out the brilliance here: https://twitter.com/KlippersHockey/status/1203424792675643393. They have been fun all year on twitter, to be honest!
9. Guillaume – What a snipe by rookie forward Guillaume St-Onge of Notre Dame in OT to make the Hounds the first team not named the Yorkton Terriers to beat the Battlefords North Stars last week! You can find my call with Rod Pedersen on the Hounds social media accounts. Really happy to see Guillaume play well after he took some time to adjust to the league, then got hurt. He was the last cut of the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the BCHL, and I truly believe he can be a star in this league the rest of the year and beyond. The other broadcasters in the league chuckled at me when I said this earlier in the year, so I hope he keeps making them eat it.
10. Petruic’s Pace – It’s still sickening. Chantz, the Yorkton captain, has 35 goals and 68 points through 34 games, and I really have to make the bold statement again that in all my time watching Junior A hockey, I have never seen a more individually dominant player in his league. He’s on pace for 116 points right now, for those wondering at home.
(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)
