With many Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams busy trading to make improvements, the Melfort Mustangs remained relatively quiet.
The Mustangs made no moves prior to the deadline but it was not for a lack of effort, said Trevor Blevins, the head coach, who noted that they did some tire kicking but could not find any moves that made sense.
“We didn’t want to give up too much of the future for what we’ve got now, but in saying that, we really like our group and we’re pretty confident.”
Against Nipawin
With the deadline behind them, the Mustangs resumed their on ice activity Jan. 11 when they welcomed rival Nipawin Hawks to the Northern Lights Palace.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, they were not ready to start the game and found themselves behind 3-0 by the end of the first period.
After an early goal in the second put the Mustangs behind 4-0, the team responded scoring twice in the period off the sticks of Tyler Heidt and Rock Ruschkowski but they could not cut into the Hawks’ lead. The game hit the second intermission with the Mustangs still trailing by three goals.
The teams traded third period goals as Carson Albrecht scored his second goal of the season but the Mustangs could not cut into the Hawks’ advantage as they fell 6-3.
The poor start sunk the Mustangs, said Blevins, who noted they were not ready to match the effort the Hawks started the game with.
“We needed to bring it. They took advantage of us being flat but in saying that they deserved to win.”
Against La Ronge
The Mustangs had a couple of days off before they returned to action Jan. 14 when they traveled to La Ronge to take on the last place Ice Wolves.
After a poor start against the Hawks, the Mustangs responded with an excellent first period as they grabbed a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Andrew Thompson and Reed Gunville.
Blevins was pleased to see the team respond in such a great way, noting that they are placing a big emphasis on both response within a game and response game-to-game.
The second period did not go so well for the Mustangs as they gave up the period’s only goal. They had some trouble dealing with the Ice Wolves’ forecheck, said Blevins.
The Mustangs made some adjustments in the third and it paid off in spades as they dominated the final period, outshooting the Wolves 20-4 and getting goals from Justin Ball, Matthew Hermary, Dakota Boutin and two from Albrecht as they skated away with an easy 7-1 win.
Blevins gave a lot of credit to his defensemen for their excellent third period, noting that they did a great job retrieving pucks and making smart plays exiting their own zone.
“It really translated to some quality chances off the rush and some easy breakouts where we could establish that time in the offensive zone,” said Blevins.
Next week
Looking ahead, the Mustangs play the Notre Dame Hounds on Jan. 20 at home and the Ice Wolves in Kinistino Jan. 21.
The game against the Hounds is an important one for the Mustangs as they come into the game 0-2 against the Hounds being outscored 13-4 in the two losses and SJHL leading scorer Ben Duperreault and SJHL rookie leading scorer Adam Dawe scoring eight points combined.
Being in their face and taking away their speed is going to be their way of battling back against Duperreault and Dawe, said Blevins.
“We’ve just got to make sure we’re taking that away and make sure we get our matchups but also be hard to play against,” said Blevins.
If they can do that, they will have a good chance of pulling out the win.
