With a win and a tie this past weekend the Yorkton Xerox Terriers have ran their impressive undefeated streak to a season-high 19 games in the Saskatchewan Bantam ‘AA’ Hockey League (SBAAHL).
The two results give them a sparkling record of 15-1-4, good enough for 34 points and a six-point lead over the second place Estevan TS&M Bruins (12-4-4) in the SBAAHL’s South Division.
The Regina Monarchs (9-8-2) and Regina Aces (8-5-3) round out the top four with 20 and 19 points respectively while Weyburn (7-8-3) sits in fifth with 17 points, the Prairie Storm (7-7-1) are sixth with 15 points and the Regina Pat Blues (6-10-2) and Moose Jaw Warriors (5-10-4) remain tied for seventh and eighth with 14 points each.
The Notre Dame Hounds (4-15-2), Swift Current Kabos Raiders (1-13-4) and Melville Millionaires (0-15-1) currently sit on the outside of the playoff picture looking in with 10, six and one point each.
In the North Division the Humboldt Broncos (13-2-3) remain in first with 29 points, with the Saskatoon Generals (12-5-2) three points back in second with 26. The Sask Valley Vipers (11-6-2) and Saskatoon Stallions (10-5-4) share third and fourth with 24 points, Prince Albert (11-7-1) is sixth with 23 while the Saskatoon Outlaws (8-6-4) and Northeast Wolfpack (8-7-2) round out the Northern top eight with 20 and 18 points.
The Saskatoon Frostbite (6-8-5) are one point back of the Wolfpack in ninth, the West Central Wheat Kings (3-7-8) have 14 points in tenth, while Battlefords (4-11-3) holds down the last spot in the North with 11 points.
Friday tie
On Friday the Xerox Terriers welcomed the Regina Aces to Yorkton’s Kinsmen Arena.
A first-minute power play goal by Jackson Berezowski gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead early on, but Regina responded with a Skyler Sangster goal midway through the opening frame to even the score.
The visitors would then take the lead on a power play goal of their own as Johnny Carmichael made Zach McIntyre pay for his interference call, snapping the puck past Yorkton’s Nolan Maier for a 2-1 Regina lead through 20 minutes.
A scoreless second period saw the Xerox Terriers dominate the visiting Aces only to be thwarted time and time again by Regina net minder Joshua Babcock, who stood on his head to keep Yorkton off the board in the middle frame.
Babcock’s strong play continued in the third period where he stopped several Yorkton opportunities until the Xerox Terriers finally managed to solve him again with a Kishaun Gervais goal 6:18 into the final period to even the game at two.
Yorkton would then strike again just over six minutes later when McIntyre struck to give the hosts their first lead since the midway point of the first period only to have their lead erased once again by Sangster, who potted his second of the game with under three minutes remaining in the game to ensure both teams picked up one point with a 3-3 tie.
Babcock stopped 29-of-32 Yorkton shots for the tie while Maier – who surrendered the game-tying goal on a shot that hit several players in front - turned aside 26-of-29 Regina attempts in the game.
Following the game Xerox Terrier head coach Dan Cross said that the effort was there; it was just a couple of mental errors early on that cost his team the victory. “Honestly we made a couple of bad giveaways in the first period to give them the lead, but I thought we played an extremely strong second period where we dominated the play but just couldn’t find the back of the net,” said Cross. “I wasn’t displeased by the effort; it was just a couple of mental errors that cost us the win.”
Saturday’s ‘W’
A day after their 3-3 tie with the Regina Aces the Yorkton Xerox Terriers were back in action, this time welcoming the West Central Wheat Kings to the Farrell Agencies Arena.
A strong opening 20 minutes saw the Terriers jump out to a 3-0 lead on a pair of goals by Berezowski and a single marker by captain Aiden Bulych.
West Central’s Troy Joyce would get one back for the visitors early in the second period, but two more goals – one each by Berezowski and Bulych – put the home side up 5-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Gervais’ second goal of the weekend made it 6-1 Yorkton four minutes in to the final period and the
Terriers never looked back, score three more times (two by McIntyre and one more by Bulych) in a 9-2 rout.
Trey Deobald shouldered the loss for the Wheat Kings while Yorkton’s Spencer Welke improved his personal record to 7-1-2 with a win.
“It wasn’t that much different of an effort from the previous night. We came out, worked hard, got shots on net and it was just one of those days where the puck started finding the back of the net,” offered the Xerox Terrier head coach, adding that it would have been nice if they got some bounces on Friday. “We could have used a couple of those the day before but that’s the way they come sometimes.”
Cross then went on to mention that not one player is responsible for the strong season his team has had so far; a season that sees their SBAAHL record and tournament record sit at 28-1-4. “We’ve got all three lines that are producing and we’ve got guys that are going out there, working hard and are committed to the team. That’s the reason for our success,” said Cross. “In Regina and P.A., those are long tournaments. We played seven games in one tournament and six in another and we basically just outlasted teams throughout the tournament because we were able to play everybody equally.
“That’s what we do in the regular season, too. Our depth is a big reason why we are where we are. We have guys that score on every line and that’s what sets us apart from other teams I think.”
Next action
The Yorkton Xerox Terriers (15-1-4) have one game remaining on their schedule before the head into the Christmas break as they welcome the Prairie Storm (7-7-1) to town tonight (Wednesday) for a 7:00p.m. game at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
