The 13th and final week of the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) had a full slate with far too many possibilities for playoffs. After the dust settled, the Wilkie Outlaws take first place with an 18-0 record. The Kindersley Sr Klippers and the Hafford Hawks were tied at 10-8, but by virtue of the Klippers winning the season series 2-1, they take 2nd and Hafford 3rd, while Edam 3 Stars finished 4th at 9-8-1. The Macklin Mohawks (8-8-2) and the Biggar Nationals (7-9-2) finished 5th and 6th respectively, and the Unity Miners finished 7th with a 1-16-1 record.
Sunday afternoon in Hafford, the Hawks hosted the Macklin Mohawks for the second time in 4 days, this time it was the visitors coming away with the 7-3 win.
Jeremy Boyer opened the scoring early, but markers from Carson Pickett and Tyler Kunz would give Macklin the 2-1 lead. Kobe Kindrachuk fit the tying goal just before the buzzer to end the 1st period. In the middle frame, it was all Mohawks as Cort Shapka, Spencer Bast and Tye Scherger would all score in a 5-minute span to extend the lead to 5-2. Scherger would net his second of the evening to further open the gap, but Brando Lesko clawed the Hawks back a little bit with his 10th of the year. Foster Steinhubel would round out the scoring.
Trevor Martin took the win, stopping 47 of 50 shots. Chase Honan made 33 of 40 shots in the loss.
On Saturday night, the Unity Miners headed east to Wilkie to play the Outlaws, and it was the best team in the league coming away with the 6-1 victory.
The dam leaked early as Kolton Baptiste, Ryne Keller, Rick Cey and Mitch Suchan all scored within a 4-minute span. Head Coach Curtis McLean called a timeout to settle the troops down, but the Outlaws still held a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes. Derek Keller potted the lone goal in the middle frame, extending the lead to 5-0. Brayden Schultz would break up the shutout bid early in the third period, but Brock Harrison would tie a bow on the convincing victory late in the game.
Ryan Rewerts took the loss, stopping 49 of 55 shots. Curtis Sander stopped 22 of 23 shots for the win.
Also on Saturday night, the Kindersley Sr Klippers hosted the Biggar Nationals with huge playoff implications on the line. It was the Klippers winning 5-2.
Shayne Neigum would open the scoring at the 10:48 mark, giving Kindersley the 1-0 lead. That lead held all the way into the late stages of the 2nd when Brett Novak would fire his 10th of the year past the goaltender. Early in the final frame, Keaton Haynes would score on the power play to give the Nats the big 2-1 lead. Lane Gilliss tied the game up again at 2 on the power play, and he added his second of the night just two minutes later to give his team the 3-2 lead late. Kyle Donaldson would extend that lead to 4-2 on the power play, and Dylan Georget would tie a bow on the victory with an empty net goal.
Brett Matlock stopped 40 of 44 shots in the loss, while Cody Beswitherick stopped 27 of 29 shots in the win.
The Macklin Mohawks headed north on Saturday to play the Edam 3 Stars, which also had huge playoff implications. It was the 3 Stars coming away with the 3-2 victory.
Mitch Wall started the night strong, scoring just 28 seconds into the game, but the lead didn't last long as Cody McKinnon tied the game two minutes later. Wall would add his second of the evening just a minute after that, giving his team the 2-1 lead after 1 period. It stayed the same all the way until the early stages of the third, as Tristan Derenoski would extend the lead to 3-1. McKinnon’s second of the night would cut the lead again but that is as close as the Mohawks would get.
Trevor Martin stopped 43 of 46 shots in the loss, while Taryn Kotchorek stopped 25 of 27 shots for the win.
On Friday night, the league leading Wilkie Outlaws entered the Jubilee Stadium in Biggar to play the Nationals and left with a 6-3 victory.
Chris Henry opened the scoring at the 17:05 mark, but it was quickly countered by Ryne Keller at the 13:19 mark of the period. Later, Brock Harrison, Derek Keller and Mike Sittler would all score in a 5-minute span to give the away team the 4-1 lead after 20 minutes. The formula repeated in the second period as Henry would post his second of the night, followed by Taylor Bucsis to cut the lead to 4-3. Brett Boehm and Harrison would respond after that to extend the lead to 6-3 after 40 minutes. The final frame was full of fast-paced action but no goal scoring.
Jared Herle took the win, stopping 34 of 37 shots, while workhorse Brett Matlock stopped 41 of 47 shots in the loss.
Also, on Friday night, the Unity Miners welcomed the Edam 3 Stars into the Shingle Dome, which the visitors left with a convincing 6-0 win.
Jordan Fransoo would get the scoring started, adding his second of the evening just 2 minutes later. Mitch Wall, returning from injury, added his first of the year on the power play to give Edam the 3-0 lead after 1 period. David Dziurzynski was the lone goal scorer in the middle frame, and brother Darian would score a pair in the 3rd. Darian’s second of the night came on the power play.
Taryn Kotchorek stopped all 28 shots in the win, while Bryan Bridges stopped 38 of 44 shots in the loss.
On Thursday, at the Polar dome of the north in Hafford, the Hawks welcomed in the Macklin Mohawks. It was the home team securing the 7-6 OT win.
The scoring barrage started at the 15:48 mark, with Kyle Ireland giving the Hawks the 1-0 lead. Jeremy Boyer and Jorden Braid would extend that lead to 3-0 before Jared Hillis would cut it to 3-1, which held after 20 minutes. Early in the 2nd, Jesser Gartner scored to make it 3-2, but Brandon Lesko would respond with a shorthanded marker to bring the lead back up to 2. Spencer Bast and Dallas Simmonds would trade goals for their respective teams in the back half of the period. The scoreboard read 5-3 Hawks after 2. The comeback hats were on the final frame as Cody Mckinnon cut the lead back down to 1, before Carson Pickett would score two goals in a 5-minute span, both on the power play, to give Macklin their first lead of the game. Braid replied with his own power play goal to send the game into overtime. Ryan Schaefer would send the hometown fans away happy by scoring just 35 seconds into the extra frame
Trever Martin took the overtime loss, stopping 37 of 44 shots, while Joel Gryzbowski stopped 26 of 32 shots for the win.
The Wilkie Outlaws become the first team in SWHL history to go undefeated in the regular season, an amazing accomplishment considering that the league started in the year 2000.
Stay tuned for the playoff schedule.
