CANORA - The U15 Highway 9 Predators, made up of players from Kamsack, Norquay, Sturgis, Preeceville, Canora and Buchanan, had their season end after going down to defeat 7-5 to Fort Knox in Game 2 of the Major Hockey League B final on March 25 in Canora. Fort Knox won the series in two straight.
“[It’s] a little disappointing that we didn’t succeed in bring home a banner,” said Preds Coach Terry Demchuk, “but this team has received some recognition from couple of coaches from other teams sending us texts at the end of the season saying that the Preds were the most improved team in the league.”
Against Yorkton
The playoff run for the Preds began with a first-round matchup against Yorkton, the third place team in the regular season while the Preds placed seventh.
“Yorkton won both regular season games against us by a combined score of 19-3, but our team was a group of players from six communities and we had slowly begun to improve and get used to each other, including players and coaches. The first game was in Yorkton. We started slow but our goalie kept us in it and then we had shifts where we outplayed them and stacked a few of those shifts together.”
Even though the Preds felt good about their first period, they still trailed 2-0.
“In the first minute of the second we scored and then a few minutes later we tied it,” said Demchuk. “In the third we started to outplay them a bit and scored. We had the lead until 20 second left in the game when a point shot was deflected into our net and we went to overtime. We had the first two scoring chances in overtime, including a play that left the puck in the crease in front of a wide open net. Yorkton picked up the puck and a beautiful play by their best player ended the game 4-3.
“Game 2 in Canora started scoreless going into the second period, and then Yorkton started outplaying us and won the game 5-1 to send us to the B side.”
Against Grenfell
The B side semifinal pitted the Preds against Grenfell, a team with four straight wins over the Preds earlier in the season in tournament and regular season play.
“We played well the first game and scored the first goal, but it wasn’t seen by the refs,” said Demchuk.
The Preds continued to apply pressure and led 3-2 after the first. The game was tied at 5-5 after 40 minutes, but Grenfell pulled away late to win 11-8.
The venue shifted to Canora for Game 2, and the Preds skated to a 4-2 lead by the end of the second period.
“We exchanged a few goals and they tied us with 3:30 left in regulation,” said Demchuk, “but one minute later we went ahead and scored two more in 30 seconds to win 8-5.”
The third and deciding game of the series was once again a home game for Grenfell.
“Game 3 was tight in the first but we took the play to them and had a 2-0 lead,” said Demchuk. "They scored halfway through the second to make it 2-1 and less than a minute later, we replied. We pulled away later in the game to win 13-1.”
Against Fort Knox
Fort Knox provided the opposition for the Preds in the B final, and they once again opened the series on the road.
“In Game 1 we thought we outplayed them at the start, only to have a bad luck goal against us,” said Demchuk. “We responded with four first period goals, ending the first with a 4-1 lead. We started the second playing well but took a penalty, which led to a string of five calls against us, one after another, some of which left us scratching our heads. That gave Fort Knox four minutes of five-on-three power play time, which led to them scoring three times and tying the game.”
Demchuk said the Preds responded well to that adversity, with three unanswered goals in the last six minutes of the period for a 6-4 lead.
“The third period was back and forth and we maintained the lead early in the period. With 10 min left in the game and in a series of poor defensive plays in our own end by our defence and forwards, Fort Knox scored three goals in five minutes. We had to chase the rest of the game but fell short and lost 7-6. But as a group, we thought we could have done more and tried to carry that to the next game.”
Game 2 in Canora had the Preds facing elimination, and the home team build a 2-1 lead after the first period, but Demchuk wasn’t overly pleased with his team’s play.
“We were a little flat, not executing well and wasting a lot of good close-in opportunities. In the second and third periods, they outshot us by a lot and they were quality chances, which resulted in Fort Knox getting a lead and outplaying us the rest the game. We were still in the game, which speaks to the quality of the goaltending we had from Emmett Lukey during most of the season, always giving us an opportunity.”
Game 2 ended with a final score of 7-5 for Fort Knox, wining the series 2-0 and earning the B side Banner.
A good season
Demchuk said, all things considered, the Preds had a good season
“Our team, made up of players from six different communities, had never played together before and most didn’t know each other. And, for over half the team, this was their first year of play with body checking. This team up moved up from third lowest place in the league to challenging teams in the upper third and falling just short of the B side championship, which is good to see. But as a coach I feel there was much potential left untapped and would be ecstatic to see it realized.”
Demchuk said a lot of the team’s success came thanks to the hard work of assistant coaches Dean Serdachny, Riley Erickson, Jarod Lukey, as well as Maggie Lukey, team manager.
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