Heading into the final weeks of the SJHL pre-Christmas calendar it appears that the defending Canalta Cup champion Yorkton Terriers are on a first half hot streak at exactly the right time. After a shootout loss to the Weyburn Red Wings at the Farrell Agencies Arena, the Terriers have won five straight games, including two big wins against division rivals in Melville, to overtake the top spot in the SJHL standings.
At 17-5-3 the Terriers now sit a full six points away from the pack in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, something that was predicted in the preseason is becoming a reality, a Terriers team that was built for the 2013/14 season before winning last year's SJHL title in impressive fashion is every bit as good as the championship team. Halfway into the season, they are arguably even more dominant.
Going into an important weekend with two games against hated Viterra Division rivals in the Melville Millionaires the Terriers weekend did not start according to plan as their rivals walked into the FAA and took a 1-0 lead on a Chris Stovall goal.
For the travelling Mils fans who braved near -40 temperatures to make the drive down the Highway 10 to cheer on their Mils, it was a reason to get even louder. For the Terriers, it was the start of a long two periods.
Isaiah Plett's hot goaltending would keep the score 1-0 for Melville until late in the second period when Dylan Johnson broke the ice with a goal off a rebound in front of the net.
A trademark goal for the power forward, whose two goals in front of the net helped eliminate Melville in last year's Conference Final, send a monsoon of Teddy Bears onto the ice as part of the Terriers Teddy Bear Toss and gave Yorkton serious momentum with the goal coming just moments before the end of the second period.
Head coach Trent Cassan mentioned the goal could not have came at a better time for the Terriers given the excitement in the building after the toss. "You could tell that after nearly two periods the players and the fans were getting antsy to cheer and throw the stuffed animals onto the ice and Johnson's goal helped turn the momentum around when we really needed it."
That momentum would continue early in the third as an unlikely source for a goahead goal pulled through as John Odgers rewarded Cassan for juggling him up the lines on Friday with a goal early in the third period.
After nearly 40 minutes of action that had the visiting Millionaires fans overtaking the FAA, the goal silenced the visitors and had the Yorkton supporters on their feet. Nobody was more happy than the Terriers coach.
"We juggled the lines a bit for Friday and when you get scoring from a unlikely source like that at a big moment it really energizes the guys and is a huge boost so we were all definitely on our feet when Odgers put the puck in the back of the net," says Cassan.
The goal seemed like a late winner, although the Terriers didn't help out their cause late in the game as the officials opted to not swallow their whistles in the closing stages of the game.
Daylan Gatzke, who was showing a playoff-like edge all game in front of Melville's net, finally got dinged with a share of roughing after the whistle penalties after tangling with a Mils player in front of the net for some four on four hockey.
Shortly after that Chase Norrish was handed a four minute double minor for a high stick that drew the blood of a Millionaires player, putting the Terriers in the tough position of killing off a four minute penalty to end regulation.
With the goalie pulled for an extra attacker, Melville's flurry of attackers were too much for the Terriers to stave off until the final buzzer as the Millionaires slammed home a puck in a flurry of traffic in front of Terriers goalie Kale Thomson to send the game into overtime. Giving the Millionaires a point the Terriers would likely have preferred not to have given their Highway 10 rivals.
In overtime the Terriers would see the day saved by their captain as Devon McMullen scored from an unfamiliar place, banging home a rebound from the slot to get the game winning goal, avoiding a shootout and sending the hometown fans happy.
The blueliner, who is in his final season, was in front of the net screening Plett for the goal, an unfamiliar territory that he says he was in solely to find the game winning goal off a bounce.
"Coach always mentions how on 4 on 4 he wants the second guy on defense to pinch in if the puck is at the slot so I went to where I thought Norrish would put it in on net and the puck went to my stick and I just threw it on net for the game winning goal," says McMullen who added, "I definitely haven't scored a goal like that in a long time."
McMullen also mentioned a big midweek win at home over La Ronge set the table for the weekend.
"Beating Flin Flon on Sunday then beating La Ronge during the week gave us a lot of confidence for this weekend."
On Saturday the Terriers carried that momentum into enemy territory in the second leg of their home and away series with the Millionaires, taking a first period lead over their rivals. Rookie Tyson Enzie opened the scoring for the Terriers in the opening half of the period, before Dalton Menke scored his fifth of the season to send the teams into the intermission with Yorkton in control.
In the second the Terriers continued to get a boost from their unlikely scoring machine in Odgers as he scored his second in as many games to stick it to the Millionaires in what would be the eventual game winner in what was a 3-2 final.
Not surprisingly goaltending was solid for the second straight night in the win, with Thomson once again edging out Mils starter Isaiah Plett. Plett would make 40 saves, but Thomson's 26 saves on 28 shots would be enough to give the Terriers a sweep of the back to back series that proved crucial in the SJHL standings heading into the December push before teams shut it down before Christmas.
A 1-0 win in Estevan off a shutout from Thomson put the Terriers six points up on the closest team in the SJHL, a commanding lead for league's best considering that before the weekend the Terriers were still in a neck and neck race with Melville for first in the Viterra Division. Now the Terriers are looking down at the entire league with a three win cushion over the pack.
Yorkton will have a tough test at home on Saturday to worry about still as the Melfort Mustangs will head down to the Farrell Agencies Arena on Saturday tied for first in their division. The game will be the second in as many nights as Yorkton will travel to Weyburn on Friday as they look for revenge against a Red Wings squad that has had their number this season, taking more than one win over the defending champs despite sitting in last place in the Viterra Division.
At the moment the Terriers have claimed the status that many assumed they would during the preseason, with six games left before the Christmas break Yorkton is red hot and a cut above the rest of the league. If they want to stay there, more work is to be done. For now, they can enjoy being on a hot streak.
