The Yorkton Terriers head to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Christmas break in third spot in the Sherwood Conference after a pair of home ice wins.
The Terriers record sits at 19-14-1-1 for 40 points. Weyburn leads the way with 53 points, followed by Estevan with 41.
Melville now sits fourth with 37 points, followed by Notre Dame with 29, and Kindersley with 21.
Santa Claus brought some early gifts to Yorkton on Saturday, including the first SJHL shut-out for Yorkton goaltender Kale Thomson, who faced 22-shots against Notre Dame at the Farrell Agencies Arena. Thomson said as the game wore on he did think about maintaining the shut-out.
"When it got later in the game, I thought it a little bit more, about not letting it get away like it did against Humboldt," he said. It helped that the Terriers in front on him were doing their jobs.
"The guys played pretty good in front of me," said Thomson. " They get some credit for the shut out too."
Getting the shut-out right before the break didn't hurt either.
"It's nice to go out on top," he said, adding he can head home to some fun family time feeling good about his last outing.
In fact, Thomson said he's rather satisfied with his season so far.
"I think I'm playing pretty good, I'm feeling pretty confident," said Thomson who said he is pretty satisfied with a 7-2 team record in his starts.
"I didn't get to play for a while into the season, but the first game, once I got that out of the way, I've felt pretty confident out there," he said.
Yorkton head coach Trent Cassan said Thomson's performance was obviously solid, something he has come to expect from the Terrier net men.
"Our goaltending has been really solid the first half," he said, noting all three netminders have "allowed us to stay in games early until we get some confidence."
John Odgers also got what he wanted for Christmas, but like Thompson's present, it wasn't under a tree either; Odgers' first SJHL goal came in the 5-0 win.
Curtis Oliver was the first Terrier to score, a powerplay marker at 6:34, which would prove the game winner at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Tyler Giebel, Ryon Sookro and Chase Norrish also had Terrier goals. Cassan said it was great to see Odgers pop one. He said Odgers is a great team player to the point his teammates might have been more excited about the goal than he was.
"It was nice to see John get that," Cassan told the media, who noted that once again, Yorkton is getting offensive contributions from all over the roster.
On Friday night, the Nipawin Hawks visited Yorkton and it turned out to be a game that was close throughout.
The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period, 2-2 after 40-minutes, and Yorkton came out on top, winning 3-2.
Jeremy Johnson, Riley Paterson and Curtis Oliver, who had the game-winner, scored for the home team, while Dan Szerlip and Jesse Bernard kept it close for the Hawks.
Warren Shymko was in net for the Terriers facing 28-shots in the win.
Road loss
Last Tuesday, Dec. 13, the Terriers were in Wilcox to face the Hounds.
Tyler Giebel gave the Terriers a 2-0 lead with a pair of powerplay markers early in the second period, but from there it was all Hounds as they went on to a 4-2 victory.
Carson Grolla made it 2-1 with a powerplay marker of his own in the second period.
In the third Christian tied the game at 8:12.
Just over four minutes later, Stephen Hiff gave the home team its first lead of the game, and 44 seconds later Greg Ferguson scored an insurance goal giving the Hounds and eventual 4-2 win.
Shymko faced 25 shots in the loss for the Terriers.
"Notre Dame, they came at us in the third period. We were up 2-0 and didn't put them away," said Cassan. "Sometimes you've just got to give the opposition credit. They deserved to win."
Up next
The Terriers are now into the league's Christmas break.
The next action will see the team head to Melville for action Friday, Dec. 30, then host the Millionaire's New Year's Day for a 2 p.m. start.
