After two years of the Melville Millionaires and Yorkton Terriers battling with each other for dominance of the Sherwood Division in the SJHL 2013/14 was supposed to be a down year for the Highway 10 rivalry. With the Millionaires planning a youth movement signaling a rebuilt it was easy to predict that the most storied rivalry in the SJHL would be a lot more one sided with the Terriers looming as favourites to defend their league title.
Apparently nobody told the Millionaires.
On a Friday night over the Thanksgiving long weekend the Millionaires took home three out of four points against the Terriers, including a 4-1 win at the Farrell Agencies Arena that shocked the league as the Millionaires continued to stay atop the newly formed Viterra Division (the SJHL moved to three divisions in 2013/14).
First period goals from Reed Murray and Matthew Cameron would give the Millionaires fans who travelled down the Highway 10 something to cheer about as Melville went into the second period up 2-0. With Isaiah Plett playing outstanding in goal it would be all the Millionaires needed on the night, but that didn't keep them from adding more insurance in the second period.
A goal from TJ Reeve on the powerplay would prove to be the nail in the coffin as a 3-0 lead would be too much to overcome for the Terriers in the third period. Josh Ellis would add a goal for the Terriers before a Mils empty netter would see a 4-1 win for Melville in the first Highway 10 battle of the 2013/14 SJHL regular season.
Yorkton would lose the game Friday despite having five powerplays to the Millionaries one. Melville would score on their lone powerplay opportunity while the Terriers went 0/5 despite having a wealth of chances from the point and in traffic in front of Plett. The SJHL Goalie of the Week was just too hard to solve and it cost the Terriers a win over their rivals.
On Saturday Trent Cassan saw the Terriers powerplay have a literal reversal of fortunes. Going from 0% to a perfect 3/3 in a 3-2 overtime win over the Millionaires in Melville.
Tyler Giebel would score the first Terriers PP goal to answer Melville's opening goal of the game from Landon Farrell to end the first period with a 1-1 score. In the third period rookie Jordan Ross would score another in a string of huge late goals for the Terriers during the first half of the season to send things into overtime. Ross' goal came with just under nine minutes left in the third period and set up the heroics of a familiar hometown hero in the 4 on 4 overtime session.
On a 4 on 3 powerplay, Yorkton product Tayler Thompson scored the game winning goal on the powerplay. It would be the third point of the night for the 20 year old, who had assists on the Giebel/Ross goals. The three point night has Thompson sitting tied for fourth in the SJHL in points with two games at hand behind the league leader in Tad Kozun from the Nipawin Hawks.
Thompson has spent the majority of his hockey career in Yorkton, becoming a hot commodity for the Yorkton Harvest in AAA Midget before returning to the area after a season and a half stint with the Prince George Cougars. Over the past two summers Thompson spent time trying to crack the Portland Winterhawks roster during their annual training camp. With his WHL career appearing to be over, Thompson has focused on the Terriers since coming back and it shows in the statline. One of the best penalty killing centers in the league, Thompson has nine assists while playing on a line with Kailum Gervais and Jordan Ross. He credits his familiarity with Gervais and the finishing of Ross for his hot start.
"I played with Kailum a lot last season and Ross has learned a lot on the fly to start the season so it has helped me produce having very talented linemates and a balanced team overall," says Thompson.
New Terriers goalie Riley Medves got the start on Saturday in Melville, he turned away 27 of 29 shots to earn his first SJHL win.
For the Terriers the 3-2 win would move Yorkton into first place in the Viterra Division, but it would be in a tie with the Millionaires as both teams have 12 points after Thanksgiving. For the Terriers, who returned over two-thirds of their 2013/14 roster it was expected, but for the Melville Millionaires it has been a shock start. Losing the league MVP and the two top scorers from the 2012/13 season, good goaltending from a new netminder in Plett and some breakout performances from their young guns has Melville thinking that their rebuild might not have the cost of losing if they can carry their hot start over the course of a season.
Yorkton will be facing another team on a hot start to 2013/14 this weekend, the La Ronge Ice Wolves come all the way from the north to the FAA on Saturday. With a 7-1 start to the season, they are favourites to come out of the North along with the Humboldt Broncos this year.
The Terriers will also play the Estevan Bruins on Sunday in a busy weekend of action before heading on their annual seven game North road trip with the Harvest Showdown invading the Gallagher Centre.
