The hottest team in Saskatchewan Midget AAA hockey shows no signs of slowing down as the Harvest keep playing a high level of hockey regardless of the competition. After a stretch of just one game in a full week the Harvest returned to regular action where they took on the second placed Regina Pat Canadians and the fourth placed Saskatoon Contacts in a busy week that was wrapped up with a Sunday afternoon clash with the cellar dwelling Beardy's Blackhawks.
Wednesday night brought the Pat Canadians into town, the Canadians who are stacked on defensive talent with Sam Ruopp and Troy Murray, brother of Columbus Blue Jackets Ryan Murray and the Terriers own Nathan Murray making the Canadian's a threat from the point high end defensive talent. Regina struck first with a quick goal five minutes in before Jaden Kreklewich tied things up off an assist from Lynnden Pastachak to wrap up the first period scoring.
Yorkton came out strong in the second and jumped out to a 3-1 lead off of two goals from Korwin Shewchuk to give the Harvest a solid chance at extending their winning streak to five games. A late second period goal from Tristan Frei gave the Canadians some much needed momentum headed into the third, closing the gap to one goal.
In the third the Harvest dug deep in their own defensive zone with Carson Bogdan shutting the door and holding onto a one goal lead. Like in their first meeting of the season in Regina, an untimely penalty ended up costing the Harvest at the end of the third period. A Pat Canadians powerplay late in the third period resulted in Mitch Lipon's 17th of the season as the Kamloops Blazers prospect stuck a dagger in the Harvest's regulation winning streak.
In overtime the Harvest dominated play once again, getting six shots on goal, but Cameron Pateman continued to be solid in between the pipes for Regina, making the final six saves of his 42 save performance in the four on four overtime to end things in a 3-3 tie, splitting the points to end their homestand.
The Harvest were back on the road on the weekend as they headed to Saskatoon and to Beardy's to take on the Contacts and the Blackhawks to wrap up January. A 6-3 win just weeks prior gave the Harvest confidence heading into their Saturday night clash with the Contacts, who were looking to avenge the loss and stay in the race for second place in the league.
A goal from an unlikely source in grinding centreman Crowin Stevely put the Harvest on the board first in the opening period off of assists from Brandon Kayter and Donavon Lumb as the Harvest's role players got on the scoresheet in the first period.
A slim lead was short lived however as the Contacts got one right back early in the second as Kolten Olynek's 27th goal of the season tied things at 1-1 where it stayed for the rest of the game, ending in another single point tie for the Harvest who had to settle for leaving two extra points up in the air after having leads on back to back nights.
Carson Bogdan continued his strong run of form in between the pipes for the Harvest on Saturday, stopping 34 shots and is now posting an impressive seven wins, two ties and one loss record since December 16, becoming a huge factor in the Harvest's turnaround.
Sunday afternoon saw the Harvest take on cellar dwelling Beardy's as the two win Blackhawks continued their nightmare season against the Harvest.
Beardy's did strike first on the afternoon as Connor Vermeuelen's early goal sent the Blackhawks into the first intermission up 1-0. An upset bid was short lived as goals from Eric Meyer and Jaden Kreklewich put the Harvest up 2-1, but the Blackhawks would not go down easy on Sunday, tying things up off Logan Schatz' goal with 7:59 left making it 2-2 with twenty minutes to go, putting the Harvest's almost month long winning streak in jeopardy against the league's worst team.
Korwin Shewchuk continued his strong play of late with a powerplay goal early in the third to end the Beardy's hopes before Logan Herchak and Ethan Bear both put in late insurance markers to make it an official 5-2 win for the Harvest and extend their streak to seven games.
Next up for the Harvest is a rematch with the Pat Canadians Saturday before a final three game homestand starting on February 6 against the Tisdale Trojans, eight games are left in the regular season and the Harvest can breathe easy after a hot January put them in comfortable playoff odds, now a February where they can ride momentum into the playoffs is on deck. It is time to find out what is in store for the 2012/13 Yorkton Harvest season with eight games left to playoff time.
