When the new Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff format was announced last year doing away with the South and North Conferences/Divisions and bringing in a three division regular season format where any two playoff teams can make the finals regardless of locale the most talked about potential dream SJHL Finals pairing with the new format was the Highway 10 rivalry between the Yorkton Terriers and Melville Millionaires.
With the Terriers and Millionaires playing out a classic Sherwood Conference Final last year with Yorkton winning in six games on their way to the league title before the Mils said goodbye to many of the key contributors nobody expected a Highway 10 Canalta Cup Final in 2014 with the Mils planning to rebuild. In fact, many even pegged the Millionaires to finish dead last in the newly formed Viterra Division thanks to losing all but four players from their 2012/13 roster.
However after the Mils shocked everyone by finishing second in the Viterra before upsetting Kindersley and Battlefords to make it to the Canalta Cup Final and the defending champion Yorkton Terriers knocked off the Notre Dame Hounds and Humboldt Broncos in five games the stage has been set and the SJHL's two biggest rivals will play in the league championship for the first time in history.
Yorkton's path was yet to be paved heading into the weekend as they headed into Game Four of their semifinal with the Broncos up just 2-1 and needing a second big road win in Humboldt to force an elimination game in Game Five back in Yorkton. Coming down from a 2-0 lead with three second period goals from Jordan Ross, Kailum Gervais and Riley Hunt helped force overtime after the game finished tied at 3-3 before Chase Norrish scored an OT winner 25 seconds into overtime to put the Broncos on the brink of elimination heading back to Yorkton for Game Five.
In Yorkton for Game Five there would be one more overtime as for the fourth game in the five game series extra hockey would be needed to settle the series. In a script you couldn't even sell to Disney, it was Chase Norrish scoring an early overtime goal yet again to crush the hearts of the Broncos with a winner on a slapshot 1:38 into sudden death. This time it would send the Terriers into the Canalta Cup Finals for a second straight year and in front of nearly 2,000 fans at the Farrell Agencies Arena it would serve as a preview of things to come as the Yorkton fans sent the Terriers off with a standing ovation for reaching another league final.
Postgame Norrish was ecstatic to have scored the winners to put his team to the final as after winning the league last year the already NCAA committed Norrish's seven goals from the blueline have helped guide the team back to being four games away from the league title and a return to the Western Canada Cup. Still Norrish was quick to downplay his individual accomplishments. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to score two OT winners back to back and being on a scoring streak in the playoffs helps us win, but even if I wasn't scoring I would be focused on doing whatever it takes for us to win," said Norrish after Friday night's win.
Norrish's two winners would put him in an usually unchartered statistical territory heading into the finals. The offensive defenseman who is known for his offensive punch along with strong defensive play on the blueline as an undersized speedster is going into the Canalta Cup as the leader in playoff goals with seven, one ahead of Terriers teammate Brett Boehm who has six tallies to his name. The offensive accolades prove Norrish's status as one of the best players in Junior A hockey and as a budding future NCAA D-I player, but other than bragging rights over his teammate Norrish says he isn't focused on numbers.
"I will probably bug Boehm about being one goal behind a defenseman but other than that I am really just trying to enjoy the moment and help the team go as far as we can go because I love the guys and love playing here."
Yorkton's 4-1 series win over the Broncos did not come easy as the Terriers were forced into overtime in four of five games and needing to come back from two goals down in the lone regulation victory of the series. A rematch of the 2013 Final between two teams that have been the benchmarks of SJHL success over the last decade, Terriers head coach Trent Cassan had nothing but praise in the Broncos effort over a close series that surprisingly only went five games.
"You have to give credit to Humboldt who really bounced back after some adversity during the regular season and gave everything they could to really push us during this series," said Cassan after Friday's win. "When you look at this series every game was decided by one goal and four of those five games went to overtime so there was a real possibility that if the breaks went Humboldt's way that we could have been out in five games so you have to give a huge amount of respect for what they did in this series because they were equal to us every night it seemed."
At the same time as crediting the Broncos for their effort, Cassan had even more praise for the composure and clutch play his team provided in spades over the course of a semifinal where the Terriers recovered from a shock Game One loss in overtime at home to win four straight games, many of which the Terriers were behind Humboldt on the scoreboard at one point of the game.
"Our guys showed amazing ability to overcome adversity during this series that really impressed me because at times they easily could have got down on themselves in an up and down type of series where there were a lot of high pressure situations but they never did," says Cassan. "In the playoffs you have to expect every game to be close and hard fought because everyone is laying it out on the line so to have that ability to outlast the opponent and find the plays you need here and there to win isa good sign for us."
Going into the Canalta Cup the Terriers will be labelled as the favourites, after all they won the Viterra Division and finished first in the league over the surprise Millionaires who had a more than respectable second place finish in the Viterra but had less luck in the season series with Yorkton. In the regular season series of the Highway 10 battle the Terriers held a distinctive edge, winning six out of eight games between the two. That isn't something that Cassan will be hanging his hat on, even if it is a strong statistical advantage despite the fact the last time the two teams played was way back on February 8.
"In sports momentum only exists in the moment and no matter how we have played up until a certain point and how our opponents have played up until a certain point that all changes with the first turning point of the game that is being played because that is how quickly momentum can change so we are only going to be focused on what we can do to get better day by day," says Cassan.
Yorkton's experience is another main talking point leading up to Game One, after all the Mils have just four players from last year's team that lost to the Terriers in six games. Cassan knows it is an edge, but is also quick to remind that experience is only going to get you so far. "We are the more experienced team, but both teams have great players so whoever is going to win is going to have to put their best efforts into this series regardless of experience."
With Yorkton and Melville playing in the league final for the first time ever thanks to the SJHL's new playoff format there will also be added atmosphere in the league championship. Even though the Terriers-Mils Sherwood Conference Finals are always a hot draw, Friday's Game One sold out early Tuesday and shows just how much the potential of bragging rights means to both cities. Especially with the Millionaires looking for their first SJHL title in franchise history the stakes and outside pressure from fans will remain high, but the Terriers head coach wants everyone to remind themselves to keep it all in perspective especially inside of his own locker room. The former Terrier player and assistant before becoming bench boss, Cassan knows how high tempers can flare in the Highway 10 battle leading to the savvy coach downplaying the historic narrative.
"The atmosphere is going to be wild and great for both cities who love their local teams which is great, but at the same time this is Junior hockey," says Cassan. "I won't be putting anymore pressure on these kids because they are still young men just becoming adults and they probably don't need any more pressure than they are putting on themselves right now because they want to win regardless who they are playing so we are just keeping focused on taking it one step at a time."
Game One will go on Friday night in Yorkton and will begin a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 format as has been all SJHL Playoffs. Game One and Game Two will have an extremely short turnaround as Yorkton will host Friday's game before travelling down the highway on Saturday night for Game Two. It also presents a chance to ride early momentum to earn a stranglehold of the series, whoever lands the first punch may just be on the fast track to league championship glory. Depending on which part of the Highway 10 you reside in you might have different hopes and dreams on which team that may be. Regardless of result, Yorkton and Melville are ready for history.
