Heading into the SJHL regular season as defending champions the Yorkton Terriers had a target on their back from day one amongst several new wrinkles to the SJHL in their new three division format.
One of them being a new division and the other being a new playoff format which gives top teams a bye into the second round. The system at times created a mathematical headache, especially when the Terriers potentially could have finished in second place behind an upstart Melville Millionaires team that was leading the Viterra Division at times after the Christmas break.
In the end none of that mattered as the Terriers won the first ever Viterra Division pennant as well as the regular season title, finishing in first place much to the dismay of the Millionaires, Kindersley Klippers and Humboldt Broncos who all thought they had a chance to end the regular season first in the league at one point or another during another exciting SJHL regular season. None of those teams ended up being deep enough to keep pace with the defending champs, who just lost 12 times in regulation and 19 times total in a 37 win, 81 point season that gave them the regular season banner with a six point cushion.
Five straight wins to end the SJHL regular season would give the Terriers momentum heading into their much deserved bye through the SJHL Survivor Series and into the big dance of the SJHL Playoffs as while teams fight for their playoff lives the Terriers get a nice long layoff where they will be able to rest after their efforts earned them home ice advantage through the playoffs. Something that the Terriers were not able to do in their Canalta Cup winning 2012/13 season where they finished second in the league behind the eventual North Conference champion Humboldt Broncos before beating them in six games on the way to the league title.
The Terriers ensured themselves first place with three wins last week, including their home finale against the Notre Dame Hounds in which veteran goaltender Kale Thomson finished his last regular season start at the Farrell Agencies Arena in style with a league record for shutouts in a season with his eighth clean sheet of the 2013/14 season in a 6-0 drubbing of the Hounds.
Thomson didn't have to do too much work to set the single season record as the Terriers defense kept the shot count to just 18 as Yorkton once again managed to flex their muscles on home ice in the regular season finale.
Brett Boehm would score two goals in the win while four different goalscorers also contributed to the blowout in the regular season finale that showed just how good the Terriers have been on home ice during the Trent Cassan era. After being the best home team in the SJHL during their championship season the Terriers once again were stellar at the Farrell Agencies Arena. Over the course of the season the Terriers lost just six times at the FAA, making their fans happy nearly everytime they stepped onto the ice.
Yorkton would then finish off the regular season on the road making a northern swing to Flin Flon before travelling to Humboldt to close out their successful regular season with back to back wins after regulation, getting a taste at overtime action before their layover prior to the playoffs.
In Flin Flon the Terriers would give Kale Thomson his final start of the regular season and while he couldn't quite tie the career regular season shutout record of 11 with back to back clean sheets, Thomson was once again outstanding in goal in a 30 save performance.
Daylan Gatzke would open the scoring in the first period with his tenth goal in an injury plagued regular season to give himself some momentum heading into the playoffs while Tyson Emprey got the regulation goal for the Bombers as the two teams went to overtime with a 1-1 scoreline after 60 minutes. In overtime it would be Boehm who would once again torture the team that traded him in his final Junior season before heading to the NCAA ranks with an overtime winner and his 31st goal of the 2013/14 season to keep the Terriers rolling heading into the final game of the year in Humboldt.
In the 2013 Canalta Cup rematch the Terriers would need to climb out of a 2-0 hole after Cody Pongracz and Brandon Long scored first period goals for the Broncos but would have no problem returning the favour in the second period with goals from Tyler Giebel and Riley Hunt resetting the scoreboard heading into the third period in a tie game.
It appeared that the Terriers found the game winning goal with just over five minutes left as Jordan Ross would score his eighth off the season off assists from Zack Zadorozniak and Derek Falloon to put the Terriers up 3-2. The lead would be erased late as David Stumborg scored on the powerplay following a costly slashing penalty by Riley Hunt.
With the game going to a shootout the backup Medves became the hero, stopping both Broncos shooters while Hunt and Boehm found the back of the net to keep the Terriers win streak alive heading into the playoffs.
For now the Terriers will be playing a long waiting game as their next action will not be until next weekend at the very latest as they await the lowest seed out of the new SJHL Wildcard series thanks to their bye for winning the Viterra Division. In the Wildcard Playoffs #7 Estevan will take on #10 seed Flin Flon while #8 Nipawin takes on #9 Notre Dame in the other series. Yorkton will have no chance at playing the Bruins as the highest seed with a bye, meaning their opponents could only be Flin Flon, Nipawin or Notre Dame in the SJHL Quarterfinals in the new format that has more of an emphasis on regular season points and has done away with the divisions.
Regardless of how things shake up Yorkton will know they are the favourites as defending champs. The waiting game will be over soon enough. After a long regular season it is time for the defending SJHL champions to defend their title.
