A super busy week 12 in the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) resulted in some interesting movement. The Wilkie Outlaws continue to lead with a 16-0 record. The Hafford Hawks (9-7) and the Kindersley Sr Klippers (9-8) hold down second place, while the Biggar Nationals at 7-7-2 are in fourth place. The Macklin Mohawks (7-7-1) and the Edam 3 Stars (7-8-1) are tied for fifth. Bringing up the rear is the Unity Miners with a 1-14-1 record.
On Sunday evening, the Unity Miners took the look trek north to visit the Edam 3 Stars and left without scoring a goal in a 5-0 defeat.
In the opening frame, the scoring started early as Brady Deobald’s made it 1-0, then David and Darian Dziurzynski each scored to give Edam the 3-0 lead after one period. Deobald’s 4th of the year and second of the night on the power play to extend the lead to 4-0 after two periods. In the final frame, David would add his second of the evening to tie a bow on the lopsided victory.
Bryan Bridges took the loss, stopping 32 of 37 shots, while Taryn Kotchorek stopped all 32 shots in the shutout.
On Saturday night, the Unity Miners headed west on Highway 14, into the Credit Union Legacy Centre in Macklin. It was the host Macklin Mohawks who secured the 6-3 win.
Unity held the lead early off the stick of Davis Chorney, his 7th of the year and 3rd PPG on the year. Jared Hillis would respond, also on the power play, to tie the game up at 1, which is how it went into the first intermission. Very early in the second, Adam Shirley would convert on the power play as well to give the Miners the lead once again, and Justin Gerein’s 1st of the year would extend that lead to 3-1. After that, the Mohawks took over as Hunter Steinhubel (on the power play), Cody McKinnon and Jetlen Houcher would all score within 4 minutes to give the Mohawks the 4-3 lead. Spencer Bast would sneak a shorthanded marker in with a single second left on the clock to give Macklin the 5-3 lead after 40 minutes. Houcher would add his second of the evening and 10th of the year to solidify the win.
Bryan Bridges took the loss, stopping 48 of 54 shots, while Owen Bosch stopped 16 of 19 shots for the victory.
Also on Saturday night, it was a massive matchup as the Hafford Hawks hosted the Biggar Nationals. The Hawks scored a huge 3-0 victory.
The teams’ good defense and great goaltending resulted in a scoreless draw after one period. Jorden Briad would finally break the goose egg at the 13:55 mark, giving the Hawks the all-important 1-0 lead heading into the final frame. Braid’s second of the night and 8th of the year would give Hafford the 2-0 lead, and Kyle Litchenwald would tie a bow on the win with an empty net goal.
Brett Matlock took the tough luck loss, stopping 38 of 40 shots, while Joel Gryzbowski got the shutout in the win, stopping all 32 shots he faced.
Also up north, the Edam 3 Stars opened the doors to the Kindersley Sr Klippers. It was the hometown team securing the 4-2 win.
Brody Roach was the only one able to find twine in the first at exactly the halfway point of the opening period, which gave Edam the 1-0 lead. In the middle frame, David Dziurzynski would score to extend the lead to 2-0, but Damon McKenzie’s 7th of the year just 20 seconds later would put the Klippers on the board and cut the lead in half. Darian Dziurzynski would score on the power play just 3 minutes after that to reclaim the two-goal cushion, which held after 40 minutes. Darian would open the third period scoring, extending the lead even further. After that, things got a little western as the two teams would amass 84 penalty minutes in the final 7:45, including 72 PIMs in one stoppage. Eight players were tossed, including Klippers goaltender Logan Drackett and 3 Stars forward Damon Schaefer. Once the dust settled, Jerret Reichert would score on the power play to cut the lead back down to 4-2, but it was too little too late.
Drackett would take the loss despite vacating the ice surface early, stopping 37 of 41 shots. Backup goaltender Cody Beswitherwick came in for the final 3:40, stopping both shots he faced. Taryn Kotchorek stopped 37 of 39 shots for the win
On Friday night, the Unity Miners hosted the Biggar Nationals, and the visitors came away with a big 4-2 victory.
Jonathon Redlich got the scoring started on the power play early with his 16th goal of the year, but Taylor Jackson on some good hand eye coordination in front of the net tied the game up at 1. With just under 4 minutes left in the first, Chris Henry would score on the power play to give the Nats the 2-1 lead, but Hunter Sperle would reply with a PPG of his own to tie the game back up at 2. Some hard-hitting action and great saves highlighted the second period, with the score still reading 2-2 after 2 periods. In the third, former Unity Miner Taylor Bucsis lit the lamp six minutes in, which would prove to be the game winner. Keaton Silvernagle would seal the victory with an empty net goal.
Brett Matlock stopped 29 of 31 shots for the win, while Bryan Bridges stopped 33 of 36 shots in the loss.
Down Highway 14 on Friday night, the Kindersley Sr Klippers rolled into Macklin to take on the Mohawks, and it was the home team taking the 5-3 win.
Jared Hillis scored early to give Macklin the 1-0 lead, but Jessey Pocock’s 2nd of the year tied the game up at 1 just 30 seconds later. Spencer Bast’s 7th of the year gave the Mohawks the 2-1 lead after one period. In the middle frame, Lane Gilliss tied the game up just 17 seconds into the period. It took until the later stages of the second before Cody McKinnon would find twine and regain the lead. Just a minute later though, Damon McKenzie would tie it back up at 3 thanks to his power play goal. In the third, it took all but a minute for Jetlen Houcher to score. That would prove to be the game winner as Jared Hillis would tie a bow on the victory with an empty net goal with 1:17 left.
Logan Drackett stopped 46 of 50 shots in the loss, while Trevor Martin stopped 21 of 24 shots in the win.
Also on Friday night, the Wilkie Outlaws travelled to the Polar Dome of the north to play the Hafford Hawks. It was the top team in the league coming away with the 6-2 win.
Former Winkler Flyer Ryne Keller scored first to give Wilkie the 1-0 lead, but Jeremy Boyer would tie the game up at 1 in the later stages. However, with 41 seconds left, former Zurich Lion Ryan Keller would take the lead back for Wilkie, which they lead after one period. Early in the second, Will Rathje’s rocket from the point on the power play extended the lead to 3-1. Boyer’s second of the night and 11th of the year cut the deficit to 3-2, but Brett Boehm reacquired the two-goal lead, and Zurich Lion Keller’s second of the evening gave Wilkie the big 5-2 lead after two periods. The third started with a bang, with Brock Harrison’s 6th of the year, and the Outlaws would coast after that.
Jared Herle stopped 38 of 40 shots for the win, while Joel Gryzbowski stopped 30 of 36 shots in the loss.
Wilkie has secured the pole position in the standings, thus securing the first-round bye, while the Unity Miners are cemented at the bottom. Beyond that, it is and will be absolute chaos with every team having the ability to move up or move down multiple spots.
Seven games are on the docket in the final week of league play. On Thursday, Macklin travels to Hafford. On Friday, Unity hosts Edam and Wilkie travels to Biggar. On Saturday, Wilkie hosts Unity, Biggar travels to Kindersley and Edam hosts Macklin. On Sunday, Macklin travels to Hafford again.
