A light weekend in the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) ended up with some great action. It is very early, but the Edam 3 Stars and the Macklin Mohawks sit on top of the league with a perfect 2-0 record, with Wilkie also on four points with a 2-1 record. The Kindersley Sr Klippers sit fourth with a 1-1 record, the Biggar Nationals sit fifth with a 0-2-1 record, with the Hafford Hawks and the Unity Miners tied for last with a 0-1 record.
In the afternoon of Nov. 17, in a game fitting for a Mike Leach-led air raid offence, the Wilkie Outlaws hosted the Biggar Nationals, and it was the Outlaws who ended up on the right side of an 8-6 game.
It took almost all the first period for the scoring to begin though, as Mike Sittler potted his first goal of the year to put the home team up 1-0. Jonathon Redlick would reply on the power play with just 1:35 left in the period, however, Troy Gerein had a different idea as he slid the puck in with just 1.6 seconds on the clock to give the Outlaws the 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. In the second period, we learned with defense was as Brett Boehm scored twice in a 14 second span, giving Wilkie the 4-1 lead. That was quickly followed by Redlick’s second of the game to cut the lead to 4-2. Rick Cey and Ryan Keller would score a minute apart after that to extend that lead to 6-2. The Nats though weren’t done as Taylor Bucsis and Brett Novak added their own goals to cut the lead back to two goals. Sittler added his second of the night to bring back to 7-4, but shorthanded, Redlick would break away and again cut the lead to 7-5. The period finally came to an end without any more scoring. In the third period, Chirs Henry would score on the power play to cut the lead to 7-6, but Rick Cey would answer with his own power play marker to bring the lead back to 8-6.
Brett Matlock stopped 60 of 68 shots in the loss, while Curtis Sander took the win, stopping 23 of 29 shots. He was replaced by Jared Herle who stopped all four shots he faced in the final 12:08 of the third.
The Edam 3 Stars rolled to an 8-2 victory over the hometown Unity Miners during their game on Nov. 16.
It started out tough for the Miners as Keegan Tiringer opened up the scoring just 51 seconds into the game, with Cody Danberg adding his first of the year before the ten-minute mark of the frame. Tiringer, on the power play, extended the lead to 3-0 before David Dziurzynski scored his first as a Unity Miner to cut the lead to 3-1. Joel Blaquiere would score twice, one a PPG, to bring the lead to 5-1 after 20 minutes. In the second, Jared Blaquiere would pile on to the lead before David Chorney would chop it back down to four goals. In the final frame, Tiringer would make the Edam hats fly on the power play to extend the lead to 7-2, and Logan Nachtegaele would add his first as a 3 Star to round out scoring.
Brett Blaquiere would stop 16 of 18 shots in the win, while Ryan Rewerts stopped 13 of 21 shots in the loss. Brett Vanderveer came in for relief in the final 16:04 of the third, stopping all 10 shots he faced.
On Nov.15, the Macklin Mohawks, in a goalie duel, took down the Kindersley Sr Klippers 3-1 at the CU Legacy Centre in Macklin.
The scorekeeper had to wait until the second period before he could write down anything, with Carson Ens opening up the 1-0 Mohawks lead. That lead was held until Jonny Calkins tied things up very early in the third period. Spencer Bast didn’t let that last long, scoring just two and a half minutes later to take the lead back. Hunter Steinhubel would seal the deal with an empty net goal in the game.
Logan Drackett took the tough loss, stopping 34 of 36 shots, while Trevor Martin stopped 31 of 32 shots in the win.
Keegan Tiringer has started his senior hockey career on an absolute heater, scoring 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in just two games. Very early, but still, very good!
Just two games on the docket for Nov. 22, as the Unity Miners host the Wilkie Outlaws at 8:30 p.m. and the Hafford Hawks travel to ‘The Jube’ for a tilt against the Biggar Nationals at 8:30 p.m.
