CANORA - “It’s Canora, It’s Cote. Baby, it’s cold outside.”
The Voice of the Cobras Pat Miechkota made reference to the temperatures outside sliding below -30 ËšC in his pre-game welcome, but the Jan. 4 action at the Civic Centre between the visiting Cote Selects and Canora was hot and heavy. After trailing on multiple occasions throughout the game, the Cobras broke a third period tie and went on to win, 8-6.
A week later, for their last road game of the regular season, the Cobras made the trip south to Wapella for a game against the Blackhawks and earned a 6-1 victory.
Versus Cote
On Jan. 4 in Canora, the Cobras took a 2-1 lead after the first period, but Coach Darren Schwartz was unimpressed with his team’s performance.
“I didn’t like our start or our whole game,” said Schwartz. “Our fans deserve better. We have a lot of trouble against Cote and we might get them in the first round of the playoffs. If we keep playing this way, they’ll probably beat us at some point.”
Schwartz pointed to the Cobras’ lack of physicality against the Selects as one of his main concerns.
“We have to make sure we don’t shy away from the hitting. We have to play them the same way we play against everyone else.”
A spirited second period fight between Tanner Denesowych of the Cobras and Cote’s Riley Friday seemed to help both teams.
“It was definitely a kneeing penalty on Tanner,” said Schwartz. “But it was nice to see him step up in the fight, sometimes we need that.”
Unfortunately for the Cobras, the Cote players also stepped up their game after the fight, scoring twice on the ensuing four-minute power play, and eventually taking a 5-4 lead into the third period.
The teams continued to battle back and forth in the final period. Overtime looked like a distinct possibility with the score tied at six goals each and less than three minutes left on the clock.
But William Hauber picked a great time to score his first two goals of the season on a pair of “perfect, pinpoint shots” to clinch the victory for the Cobras.
Carter Dereniwsky of Canora led all scorers for the Cobras with a hat trick and three assists.
“Carter has been a tremendous player for us in his first season with the Cobras,” said Schwartz.
“It’s a bonus for us to have him.”
Cole Rathgeber of Yorkton was once again a force on offense for the Cobras with two goals and two assists. The other goal scorer was Scott Mickoski of Regina. Skylar Wallin of Margo matched Dereniwsky in the playmaking department with three assist. Cody Dubas of Invermay was close behind with two helpers.
“We were lucky to get the win,” said Schwartz. “This was probably our worst game all year. Cote’s going to surprise a lot of teams.”
Versus Wapella
On Jan. 11 in Wapella, Schwarz had a brief message for his team before the opening faceoff. “We have to play a complete game and be more accountable for how we play. We have been just getting by, just playing well enough to win.”
After the game, Schwartz said the team played like they got the message.
“This was our most complete game of the year. We were short five players due to school and work commitments. We only had three lines and five defence. Our guys played well from start to finish. Our physical play was better and our positional play was better. Brad Sentes (of Regina) wasn’t overly busy in goal, but he made the saves when he had to.”
The Cobras were in control pretty much from start to finish, with their first goal coming less than a minute into the first period. Canora had period leads of 1-0 and 4-0.
Scott Mickoski of Regina led the attack with two goals and an assist. Carter Dereniwsky and Vaughn Wilgosh, both of Canora, each contributed a goal and an assist. Other goal scorers were Kody Rock of Canora and Cole Rathgeber of Yorkton. Casey Mydonick of Canora was the top playmaker with three assists.
The two points by Dereniwsky have him tied for second in the SEHL scoring race with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points.
After the strong performance, Schwartz had a challenge for his team going forward
“Now we have to keep setting the bar higher and play even better.”
The Cobras have nothing but home games left to wrap up the regular season, including back-to-back challenging games on Jan. 24 and 25 against Langenburg and Theodore, both with the potential to be difficult matchups for Canora.
The game against Langenburg takes on extra importance because the two teams are battling for second place in overall league standings for playoff positioning. The two teams could meet in the second round of the playoffs, with the higher ranking team having home ice advantage.
“Both teams have great fans, so they both want home ice in the playoffs,” said Schwartz.
In the meantime, Schwartz said the Cobras, including their coach, are excited about participating in Canora’s Hockey Day in Saskatchewan events from Jan. 14 – 19.
“A lot of our guys are playing in the alumni game on Thursday (Jan. 16). I was a part of that championship team in 2004/05, and it will be a lot of fun seeing the present players going against the old guys.”
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