Yorkton’s two SSMHL teams, the Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers (Midget ‘AA’) and Sherring Gold Terriers (Peewee ‘AA’) took to the road this past weekend.
The midget Kinsmen Terriers headed to the Queen City to take on the Regina Vics on Saturday, while the peewee Sherring Gold Terriers made the quick trek down highway 10 to do battle with the rival Melville Millionaires for a Sunday afternoon affair.
Midgets
The Kinsmen Terriers looked to start the 2015 calendar year off on the right foot, however the Regina Vics had other ideas, handing the Terriers a 5-2 loss in large part due to a four goal third period outburst for Regina.
Hunter McDonald opened the scoring for the host Vics with 4:20 remaining in the opening frame when, with Caleb Sutter in the penalty box for cross-checking, he beat Yorkton netminder Carter Park.
However Sutter would make up for his costly penalty late in the period, when, on the powerplay, he snapped the puck between the legs of Vic goalie Jacob Morash to bring the Terriers even with just 32 seconds left in the first.
Another powerplay opportunity allowed the Kinsmen Terriers to once again find the back of the net. This time it was captain Kholton Shewchuk who beat Morash, his 10th of the season giving Yorkton their first lead of the game with 7:14 remaining in the second stanza.
The one goal Yorkton lead would last until the early stages of the third period until Regina’s leading scorer Brayden Cockwill beat Park to make it 2-2.
The Vics then took the lead just past the midway point of the third when Cody Ross beat Park for the third Regina goal.
Less than two minutes later the Vics made it a two goal advantage as Cockwill struck for his second of the night, this time via the man advantage, to make it 4-2.
An empty net goal by Dennen Blanchard with 24 seconds remaining made it a 5-2 final score in favour of the Regina Vics.
Following the game Kinsmen Terrier head coach Noel Budz felt that his team might have been a little bit rusty after having not played a game in two weeks. “I think that we might have been a little bit rusty and I think the guys would agree and say that there was some rust,” offered Budz, adding that due to the rust their passing wasn’t as crisp, which in turn led to too many individualistic plays.
In addition, Budz also felt that the absence of two of the teams’ top three scorers was a hole that proved too difficult to fill in the first game after a prolonged holiday break. “Any time you’re missing guys like Jarvis Gelowitz (11 goals, 15 assists) and Tayon Metzler (26 goals, 16 assists) it’s tough,” suggested the Kinsmen Terrier bench boss, continuing, “No matter who is out, our lineup is just not as complete, both in the dressing room and on the ice.”
The loss drops the Kinsmen Terriers record to 12-11-4 on the season while the 28 points puts them in a tie with the Swift Current K-Motel Hurricanes (13-7-2) for third place in the 14-team SSMHL Midget Division.
The Regina Capitals remain in first with a sparkling 20-2-4 record and 44 points, while the Prairie Storm sit second with 30 points thanks to a 13-8-4 record.
The Regina Rangers (10-9-7) are one point back of the Terriers in fifth spot, while the Notre Dame Argos (11-6-4) have 26 points in sixth.
A three-way tie for seventh-ninth has the Notre Dame Hounds (10-8-4), Estevan Apex Bruins (11-10-2) and Notre Dame Bantam Hounds (10-9-4) all tied with 24 points each.
Melville sits in tenth with 21 points while the Regina Vics, Moose Jaw Warriors, Weyburn Lightstream Wings and Lumsden/Bethune Lions round out the basement of the league with 20, 18, 10 and eight points respectively.
Peewees
The Yorkton Sherring Gold Terriers of the SSMHL Peewee Division were also in action this past weekend as they travelled to Melville to renew their rivalry with the Millionaires on Sunday afternoon.
It took just six minutes for the Sherring Gold Terriers to find the back of the net as Mitchel Madsen scored the first goal of 2015, beating Melville goaltender Aiden Elmy for his tenth goal of the season.
However Madsen’s goal proved to be the only one of the first period, as Elmy and Yorkton netminder Spencer Welke stood tall, turning aside a combined 17 shots in the period, seven by Welke and 10 by Elmy.
Elmy continued to stymie the Sherring Gold Terrier offence throughout the first three quarters of the second period, however he couldn’t stop everything as Tony Roebuck’s sixth goal of the season found its way into the back of the Melville net for a 2-0 Yorkton lead with 5:37 remaining in the frame.
Three minutes later defenceman Austin Dycer’s third of the season made it 3-0 heading into the final period for Yorkton when his powerplay shot eluded Elmy.
The third period saw the two teams trade a pair of goals as Jackons Berezowski and Ryder Korczak found the back of the net for Yorkton, while Dawson Springer and Kayden Tocher replied for the Millionaires to make the final score 5-2 for Yorkton.
The victory increases the Sherring Gold winning streak to nine games and gives them a 12-1-0 record and 24 points for first overall in the six-team SSMHL Peewee Division, five points up on second place Swift Current (8-0-3).
The Moose Jaw Warriors sit in third place with a 5-3-3 record and 13 points, while Weyburn (4-5-1) is fourth and Estevan (1-11-2) sits fifth with nine and four points each.
Melville rounds out the league table in last place with just one point and a 0-10-1 record through 11 games.
Next up
The Kinsmen Terriers were in action last night against Melville, however results were unavailable at press time.
The next action for the Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers of the SSMHL Midget Division will be tomorrow (Thursday) when they visit the Swift Current K-Motel Hurricanes for Game One of their two game Provincial total points series. Their next league action will be the following night in Wilcox against the Bantam Hounds, before rounding out weekend play on Sunday against the Notre Dame Midget Hounds.
The next home action will be Tuesday, January 13 when they welcome Swift Current for Game Two of their first round Provincial series. Puck drop is set for 8:00p.m.
The next action for the Yorkton Sherring Gold Terriers will be Tuesday, January 13 when they once again visit the Melville Millionaires.
