For a veteran loaded team that has dominated at home over the past two seasons at the Farrell Agencies Arena it was only fitting that offensive fireworks in front of the hometown fans clinched the Yorkton Terriers second straight division title this weekend as the Terriers scored 17 goals over two games to separate themselves from the Melville Millionaires for good and earn their first banner of the 2013/14 regular season.
While regular season glory is not what the defending Canalta Cup champs are looking for, with the final weekend of the SJHL regular season approaching it was validation of just how consistent the Terriers have been over the past two seasons under head coach Trent Cassan. Rarely losing at home and getting the job done on the road just enough during the regular season to stay in the top ranks of the SJHL, the Terriers fought off a surprisingly strong team in their rivals from Melville and a new division format to continue as one of the most dominant teams in the league.
Yorkton's week would start with a final matchup against a Weyburn Red Wings team that had the Terriers number during their meetings dating back to the first half of the regular season. That would continue in the early goings in the first period as the Terriers still couldn't find the Red Wings number despite outshooting them 18-7 as the two teams went into the first intermission with the Red Wings leading 2-1 on goals from Matt Eng and Josh Lee giving them the edge as the Terriers lone goal from Daylan Gatzke was not enough for the lead.
Weyburn would extend their lead to 3-1 on a Tyler Borstmyer powerplay goal early in the second period, but the insurance marker would seem to wake up the Terriers who came out much more motivated for the rest of the second period. Tayler Thompson would find his 20th goal of the season on the powerplay to cut the lead to 3-2 before Chase Norrish tied the game just before the end of the second period to reset the score heading into the third.
In the third period Brett Boehm would prove to be the difference in the Terriers-Red Wings rematch as their midseason pickup showed his impact with a hat trick in the final 20 minutes to pull away from Weyburn for good after a hard fight from the Wings in the opening 40 minutes.
Boehm scored his 26, 27, and 28th goals of the 2013/14 season as the dynamic goalscorer lifted the Terriers to a 6-4 final over the pesky Red Wings.
On Saturday night the Terriers would bring even more goals to the Farrell Agencies Arena, using their shooting sticks the Terriers would hand the Nipawin Hawks one of the biggest beatdowns in recent SJHL history in an 11-1 victory. Yorkton would score three goals in the first and four apiece in the second and third periods to earn two more points towards clinching the regular season SJHL title and to give the hometown fans something to cheer about in their second to last regular season home game.
Four wins on the weekend would be made even sweeter for Yorkton as it meant that the Terriers officially beat the Millionaires for the division title for the second straight season. After Melville shockingly jumped out to such a hot start and grabbed the lead of the division after the Christmas break it looked like the Terriers may have had a stiffer challenge than expected for the top spot in their new division, but their depth and consistency proved too much for the Millionaires to handle even if head coach Jaime Fiesel did an admirable job in rebuilding Melville's team on the fly after losing several Top 10 scorers in the league from last season.
Yorkton's front office and coaching staff also deserves full credit for bringing in impact players during the season once again as the trade for Brett Boehm with the Flin Flon Bombers in exchange for promising young forward Dalton Menke was a major factor in the Terriers regular season success so far as Boehm is on the verge of being a 30 goal scorer for a Terriers team that had just one scorer in the Top 25 in the SJHL last season. Having that elite goalscoring presence showed this weekend and throughout the second half of the year.
Yorkton will close out their home action midweek when they host the Notre Dame Hounds before wrapping up the 2013/14 regular season on the road in Flin Flon and Humboldt before earning a bye to the SJHL playoffs as Viterra Division champions. The Terriers final three games will still be of importance as they are currently in a race with the Kindersley Klippers for first place in the league and the all important home ice advantage should the reach the Canalta Cup Final for the second straight season.
One point up on the Klippers with a game at hand, the Terriers will need to balance finding points and staying healthy and mentally prepared for the playoffs. Something that they haven't seemed to have a problem doing in the final weeks of the season, if their recent run of form continues the Terriers will improve on their second place regular season finish in 2012/13 with a regular season pennant as a bonus for their consistent play this year. With the playoffs just three games away the Terriers will be looking to continue their hot streak and make another small step in their mission to repeat as SJHL Champs.
