It was a disappointing week for the Nipawin Hawks as they finished with a 1-2 record and were swept in a crucial home-and-home series with the Humboldt Broncos.
The Hawks started their week with a dominating 5-0 win over the Yorkton Terriers on home ice on Jan. 3.
Doug Johnson, the Hawks’ coach, was pleased with the Hawks’ effort, noting their tenacity, work ethic, structure, systems and physicality were all where they needed to be.
That was one of their best games all year, said Johnson.
“[Our] goaltending was great, the back end moved the puck real well, we got up ice. Just a solid effort top to bottom, [There was] nothing that was outstanding, just everything was really good.”
The Hawks followed that up with an excellent first period against the Broncos in Humboldt on Jan. 6 but things fell apart in the second as they gave up five goals en route to a 6-2 loss.
Despite the loss, Johnson was not overly upset with the effort of the team, noting they outshot the Broncos in the first and third periods and they just could not catch a break.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of puck luck that game and we just made some mistakes that we normally don’t.”
The following night the teams returned to the cage for the back half of the home-and-home, which the Broncos took 2-1 for their first win in Nipawin since Jan. 2014.
It was a good effort, said Johnson, but not a great effort as Humboldt played a strong game.
“I thought we could have been a little more physical, I thought we could have been a little more tenacious,” said Johnson regarding the loss.
Losing both games against the Broncos hurt the Hawks in the standings as they had a chance to pull as many as six points clear of the Broncos for home ice in the playoffs but instead find themselves two points behind.
“We dug ourselves in a little more of a hole than we wanted but you just have to learn from it. Learn what went well, what went wrong, why we’re in the situation and get better because of it,” said Johnson.
The usually dependable power play went south for the Hawks this week as they finished just 1/19 in their three games, which Johnson said came down to being too passive and perimeter with the players looking to pass too often instead of shooting.
Looking ahead, the Hawks continue their busy schedule with three games this week with games in Melfort and Melville Jan. 11 and 13 before returning home for a rematch with the Yorkton Terriers Jan. 14.
After a tough week Johnson said the key for the team is refocusing.
