To be successful Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League squads need to put in the work on their special teams’ play.
“You want to have strong special teams play especially down the stretch and through the playoffs. A lot of times, it decides games. … You want to make sure it’s always being worked on. Put the time in,” said Melfort Mustangs head coach Trevor Blevins, who has led his club to two league championships and is entering his 10th season with the team.
Even though it is early in the season, it is easy to see the impact that special teams can have. As Tuesday afternoon, the Battlefords North Stars were a perfect 10-0-0-0 and ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Junior Hockey League Top 20 Rankings. They paced the SJHL in home power play record at 40.0 per cent and were second overall at 30.2 per cent.
North Stars standouts Tynan Ewart and Keiton Blein were second and third in SJHL power play points (with seven each) behind La Ronge’s Ryley Morgan, who had eight as of Tuesday afternoon. Klein led the league with six power play goals. Ewart paced it with six assists with a man advantage.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Humboldt Broncos boasted an unbeaten 8-0-0-0 record. In Monday’s rankings, they were third in the country. Humboldt led the SJHL with a 31.8 power play percentage. They had been extremely dangerous on the road – a league-best 38.9 per cent. The Broncos’ power play has succeeded by committee. As of Tuesday afternoon, nine Humboldt players had lit the lamp on the power play. Eleven Broncos had recorded a power play assist. Ben Kotylak led the team with three man-advantage goals.
Besides the North Stars and Broncos, the only other SJHL team ranked nationally this week was the Flin Flon Bombers. The No. 20 club in the country was third in the SJHL with a 6-1-1-1 record. The Bombers had the league’s third best power play at 24.3.
At the other end of the ice, the Yorkton Terriers (5-2-0-0, fifth in the SJHL as of Tuesday afternoon) led the league in penalty kill percentage at 90.7. Last week the Melfort Mustangs had led the SJHL in that category before dipping only slightly to second with an 88.0 percentage. When asked about his team’s penalty killing success, Blevins said:
“A lot of it is we do a great job taking away time and space. I think players have done a great job of when to be aggressive and when not to be. I think a big credit goes to our goaltenders. That’s usually your No. 1 penalty killer. And the fact that we are willing to block shots. I think we have a lot of guys who are brave in our lineup and bring it every day.”
Blevins emphasized the confidence the team has in its two netminders – killing penalties or in any situation. Joel Favreau sat sixth in the SJHL with a 2.40 goals against average so far this campaign. Last season James Venne was thrust into a big role with Favreau injured. He handled things with aplomb and posted a 17-7-2-3 record.
“When we have a 1-2 combination, I think it’s both ones,” Blevins said. “I think they are both capable of being No. 1 goaltenders in our league. They’re quite happy to support each other and be a part of this process. We couldn’t be any happier at that position.”
Among the leaders in the league standings, the Bombers had the best penalty kill, as of Tuesday afternoon. It was third in the SJHL at 84.2 Battlefords was sixth at 80.4 while Humboldt was one spot behind at 80.0. Battlefords was fourth in home penalty kill percentage at 88.9 per cent.
The league’s top two teams are very effective at turning a penalty kill into an offensive opportunity. Through Tuesday afternoon, Battlefords and Humboldt led the league with three shorthanded goals each. Interestingly, all three of the North Stars’ shorthanded goals were scored at home, while Humboldt’s came on the road. While Yorkton’s Karsten Kruska had a league-best two shorthanded goals, North Stars Steven Kesslering and Jordan Grill joined him in leading the SJHL with two shorthanded points.
