After a wake up call by the way of a third period collapse at home against the La Ronge Ice Wolves, the Yorkton Terriers responded in a big way over a three game stretch in the past week. The Terriers won a game on the road Friday night in Humboldt, a game on neutral ice in Esterhazy against the Kindersley Klippers and a game at home against the Flin Flon Bombers to secure six crucial points during the late January swing.
While the winning streak didn't allow the Terriers to retake first place in the Sherwood Division, the six crucial points closed the cap between the defending champs and their Highway 10 rivals to just four points.
Friday night in Humboldt the Terriers defense and their starting goalie bounced back from their off night against La Ronge and shut down the Broncos in their own barn. While the Broncos outshot the Terriers 38-28, Kale Thomson was a brick wall saving all 38 of those shots on the way to a shutout.
Tyler Giebel's first period goal would be the lone offensive statistic of the night on the box score and Derek Falloon would get the game's only assist in a game that was short on offense and long on good goaltending.
After the 38 save mastery on Friday there was little doubt in who would be the Terriers starter on Saturday night when Yorkton's team would extend their reach just a quick drive the highway in Esterhazy for a neutral ice meeting with the Kramer Division leading Kindersley Klippers. With the team helping out at hockey clinics during the week, the game drew a solid crowd of Terrier fans in the community who were treated to another strong performance from the defending SJHL champions.
After nearly two full periods of scoreless action Tayler Thompson would give the Esterhazy arena its first SJHL goal with his 13th goal of the season. Josh Ellis would extend the lead to 2-0 early in the third period on the powerplay and after a Devin Case goal brought the Klippers within one Brady Norrish would score an empty net goal to give the Terriers a 3-1 win.
Head coach Trent Cassan said the experience of giving the community of Esterhazy an SJHL regular season game was one the team embraced and one that was a positive experience. "A group of players and us coaches went up during the week to help with some practices and hockey clinics during the week, so it was fun to get away from the usual routine while putting on a bit of a show for fans outside of Yorkton," says Cassan.
As for the differences of playing at home or the road in a game played on neutral ice, Cassan felt the players treated it like a home game and the Esterhazy arena was good to the Terriers. "The rink had a good width and might have been a little short, but we had a good turnout of fans and we enjoyed getting a win for them."
After back to back starts over the weekend, Thomson would make way for backup Riley Medves who was eager to get into the win column in a month where he has seen in an increase in relief duty behind the workhorse in Thomson. After making back to back appearances during Thomson's absence due to illness and appearing in relief during the Terriers lopsided loss to Nipawin, Medves would make his fifth appearance in goal during the month which is his highest monthly total to date in his SJHL career. Winning just one of those games, the backup was eager to get his team a win and so were his teammates playing in front of him when the Bombers came to town on Tuesday night in a game that was dominated by the hosts.
Cortlan Procter and Zach Zadorozniak scored within the games first ten minutes and Zadorozniak added his second of the night on the powerplay to give Yorkton a quick 3-0 lead in the first period. The Terriers would also outshoot Flin Flon 19-6 in the opening frame.
In the second period things cooled off for the Terriers, as despite outshooting Flin Flon by a wide margin again the team could not beat Bombers goalie Casey Parker for further insurance to their lead. Rather it would be the struggling visitors who would get on the scoreboard during the second frame as Evan Akkerman's first goal of the season would move the Bombers within two as the score would read 3-1 in favour of Yorkton after 40 minutes.
The third would see the game get out of hand on the scoreboard and on the Farrell Agencies Arena ice as after Tayler Thompson put the Terriers up 4-1 the Bombers opted to start making the game more about trying to start fights with the game being out of reach, allowing for more Yorkton chances and further Flin Flon frustration. 18 penalties were accumulated during the final period to 11 players as old school hockey energized an excited Yorkton crowd that saw the Terriers not only defend home ice, but stand up to some questionably cheap play from the visitors.
The first Bombers attempt to start a ruckus led to an instigator penalty and a Yorkton powerplay that led to a Tyler Giebel powerplay goal to push the score to 5-1. After that things got even more ugly as after an open ice hit Flin Flon would continue the fighting as Simon Desrosiers would mix it up with the always ready Daylan Gatzke, ending both players nights with 10 minute misconducts. It would continue just before the final five minute mark as Flin Flon's Austin Calladine took the Bombers second instigator penalty of the third period before getting KO'd from Dylan Baer, who took obvious exception to the Bombers tactics at the end of the game.
On the shorthand after all of the penalties, Flin Flon would be put through even more misery as Matthew Cox's second goal of the season pushed the score to a 6-1 final. The Bombers would continue to go after the Terriers, including their former teammate in Brett Boehm until the final whistle, but after three periods Yorkton defended home ice and stood up for themselves in a sound beatdown of the Bombers. Trent Cassan was happy in a performance where the Terriers outshot their visitors 47-20 even if he felt they got a bit complacent in the second period.
"I thought periods one and three were some of the most dominant periods of hockey we have played all season," says Cassan. "We plateaued a bit in the second period and couldn't grab a goal with Flin Flon scoring so we lost a period there but overall I was glad with the way the guys responded after playing two tough games on the weekend."
The game was also pleasing for the Terriers backup in Medves, who postgame mentioned that he felt that getting a win was important to prove that he can get it done after two straight losses in recent spot starts. "When I played when Kale was sick we didn't get to get on the win column and I felt I could have played better so to come out and prove that I can get a win when needed was important for me to get some confidence for myself and confidence for the coaching staff in what I can do."
Despite not getting many opportunities for playing time, Medves has actually been quite consistent while in the crease for the Terriers in his first season. With more wins than losses in holding a 5-3 record in regulation, Medves has adjusted to the SJHL and says that this year has actually been his favourite year of his career.
"Yorkton is by far the best place I have played in and I love all of the guys here, coming to a winner has also been huge so I am enjoying every moment that comes," says Medves.
Going into the final month of the regular season, Medves will likely be getting some of his final starts of 2013/14 as Kale Thomson will likely get nearly every playoff start in goal if healthy during his final junior-eligible season. With the Terriers in a tight Sherwood Division race with the Melville Millionaires every game counts and because of that Medves will get a chance to prove that he can get it done in a pressure environment for down the road with Thomson exiting the picture next season.
"It is important for me to help the team win and even moreso with us looking to finish the year strong and win the division which gives me a great chance to prove to the coaches that I can get it done when they count on me." says Medves.
Trent Cassan had similar things to say about his backup, praising the way he has played in a busy January. "We have had to throw Medves in there more than usual this month and he has really answered the call and stepped up his play," says Cassan. "The weekend where Kale was sick he found out on short notice and we still got a point out of the weekend and he had to come in relief when we lost to Nipawin so I know he is glad to get a win after some tough spots we have put him in."
Yorkton's next home game will be a marquee matchup as the Humboldt Broncos come to town. After a narrow 1-0 win in Humboldt last weekend Cassan closed his interview this week saying he expects a tough one.
"We had a real battle in Humboldt on Friday and I have no reason to expect this one won't be just as tough, they are a great hockey team so every time we play it is a battle."
