Both league and provincial playoffs are in full swing for all the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) teams.
League PlayoffsGame 1 of the best of 3 quarter finals between the 3 seed Hafford Hawks and the 6 seed Biggar Nationals kicked off Thursday night at the Hafford & District Communiplex, with the Hawks coming away with the 6-2 victory, and taking a 1-0 series lead.
Dylan Haynes opened the scoring at the 13:31 mark, which held until the late stages of the opening frame. Ryan Schaefer tied things up, followed by Jorden Braid’s 1st of the playoffs to give the Hawks the 2-1 lead. In the second, Taylor Bucsis tied things back up at 2, but Hafford took over the game after that. Kyle Ireland, Kobe Kindrachuk (on the powerplay), and Scott Linnell all scored within 6 minutes of each other. This gave the Hawks the big 5-2 lead after 40 minutes. Kyle Litchenwald would add an empty net goal late in the 3rd to tie a bow on the win.
Brett Matlock stopped 32 of 37 shots in the loss, while Joel Gryzbowski stopped 32 of 34 shots in the win.
Game 2 of the best of 3 between the 4 seed Edam 3 Stars and the 5 seed Macklin Mohawks went Friday night from Macklin and the Mohawks were able to sweep the series with a 4-2 win.
Jetlen Houcher scored first for the home team on the power play. Just 3 minutes after that, Carson Pickett extended that lead to 2-0. That lead held all the way into the front half of the 3rd period, when Darian Dziurzynski broke the goose egg and cutting the lead in half. Spencer Bast, on the power play, extended that lead back to 2, but Mitch Wall would claw the visitors back to within one. Tyler Kunz’ 2nd of the year into the empty net to seal the victory. The volcano exploded at the end of the game with a massive melee, resulting in 11 ejections and 142 penalty minutes handed out.
Taryn Kotchorek took the loss stopping 30 of 33 shots, while Trevor Martin stopped 42 of 44 shots in the win.
ProvincialsIn the ‘C’ Bracket, the Wilkie Outlaws travelled the 4.5 hours to Porcupine Plain on Saturday for game 2 of the best of 3 quarter finals and the Outlaws breezed by the Blues 9-4, winning the series 2-0
Also, in the ‘C’ Bracket, the Biggar Nationals hosted the Rosthern Wheat Kings in the winner take all game 3 on Saturday which the Nats won in overtime 4-3, thus advancing to the semifinals with a 2-1 series victory.
The Unity Miners added to the busy docket on Saturday in the ‘C’ Bracket, hosting the Dinsmore Dynamos in an afternoon affair at the ShingleDome, which Dinsmore won handedly 8-1.
In the ‘D’ Bracket, The Macklin Mohawks opened their best of 3 quarter final against the Perdue Pirates on Saturday night and it was the home team winning 13-1, taking the 1-0 series lead.
On Sunday, in the ‘A’ Bracket, the Kindersley Sr Klippers hosted the Loreburn 19ers in the opener to their best of 3 quarter final. It was the Klippers winning 7-4, taking the 1-0 series lead.
