This column appeared prior to the Terriers Wednesday night game at the RBC Cup. For bonus coverage visit yorktonnews.com or follow @TNRSports on twitter for live updates of the 2014 RBC Cup as the Terriers look to win the Junior A National Championship.
After surviving disaster at the beginning of the round robin at the Western Canada Cup in Dauphin before bouncing back from early adversity to win the tournament and advance to their first RBC Cup since 2006, the Yorkton Terriers headed to Vernon knowing that if they could get off on a better start in their second postseason tournament in the month of May that they could be one of the favorites to win the Junior A National Championship as the team with the best recent resume in the field of five teams that qualified.
That fast start was nowhere to be found sadly, as the Terriers arguably have had to experience more early disaster in Vernon than in Dauphin as two poor defensive performances has seen the SJHL and WCC champs concede 11 goals in two games for two losses including one where starting goalie Kale Thomson was pulled near the halfway point of their second loss of the tournament. Those two losses have Yorkton at the bottom of the RBC Cup standings, an 0-2 record that will need to be turned around in their remaining two round robin games before the weekend should they have any hope of lifting the National Championship.
Things actually started off well for the Terriers in their opening game against the OJHL's Toronto-Lakeshore Patriots as Yorkton got on the board first thanks to an early Tayler Thompson goal in front that put the Terriers up 1-0 less than five minutes into their RBC Cup campaign. That feeling quickly vanished as the Patriots would beat Thomson on their fist shot of the game when Michael Prapavessis went top shelf on Kale Thomson for his 1st of the RBC Cup to tie it up at 1-1. Then just 4 minutes later, Toronto would get their first lead of the afternoon as Rory Bell would poke home a nice feed from Nick Ursitti to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead on their first two shots of the game, undoing what was a good start from the Terriers who appeared to have a jump on the game before having to settle on being down 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The intermission allowed both teams to calm things down, leading to a stagnant beginning of the second period with the Patriots content to hold onto their 2-1 lead from the first period and Yorkton looking to find their way back into the game after blowing their quick start. It would be a penalty to the Terriers that would be the turning point of the second frame as well as for the opening game as Andreas Tsogkas put the Patriots up 3-1 on the man advantage by beating Thomson through his legs to put the Terriers down two goals. Things would get even worse before the period ended with Ryall Ledyard deflecting home a Prapavessis point shot that put Toronto-Lakshore up 4-1 and killed any fight the Terriers had in them after suddenly giving up what looked like a strong start to the tournament in the game's opening two periods.
Down 4-1 heading into the third, Yorkton showed spurts of improvement and determination to get back into the game early on before an inability to solve Patriots netminder Evan Buitenhuis put the writing on the wall that a loss in their first game was inevitable. Still Kevin Shier wasn't about to show mercy or turn down adding the the Patriots goal differential by scoring his first of the tournament to make it a 5-1 final in what was a disappointing loss for Yorkton after building up so much momentum in Dauphin.
Starting the tournament off with a loss was a huge blow for the Terriers considering that their second opponent was going to be a much more imposing task as they would be matched up against the host Vernon Vipers of the BCHL, a well rested team that would also have the home ice advantage over Yorkton in what would be an early must win round robin game for both teams who desperately would want to avoid going 0-2 to start the tournament.
The first period would once again start off well enough for the Terriers, this time only getting a near goal as Brett Boehm couldn't find the finish on a wide open chance in the slot that went just over the crossbar to the luck of the host Vipers.
After getting some luck thanks to a rare miss from Boehm, the Vipers would pounce first to get the period's lone goal as Colton Sparrow would make an end to end rush before beating Thomson to put Vernon up 1-0 after the first.
As in the first game of the round robin it would be the second period that would be the Terriers downfall, only this time things were much more sudden and drastic as the Vipers ran up the score on Yorkton right out of the game to start the second frame. Four unanswered goals in 3:48 of the period would put Vernon far in front as Brett Mulcahy, Colton Sparrow, Michael McNicholas and Liam Coughlin would all do their parts in pushing the Vipers lead to 5-0 and chasing Thomson out of the crease as head coach Trent Cassan was offered little choice but to pull his workhorse starter and CJHL Goalie of the Year nominee for little used Riley Medves.
Yorkton would get a slim lifeline before the end of the second period as Boehm would lift the Terriers once again with a timely late goal, sneaking one past Austin Smith to get his team to back within a wide four goal gap heading into the game's final twenty minutes.
Desperate to get back into the game and to save their opening schedule of the round robin or at the very least to close down some goal differential, the Terriers came out in the third period with an all out attack that created their best hockey of the tournament thanks in part to some defensive tactics from the Vipers that allowed Yorkton to dictate the game. Dylan Johnson would step up to put Yorkton within three before Tanner Lischynsky would find Smith's five-hole to bring the Terriers back to 5-3 with over ten minutes left to play in the final period.
With 9:28 left in the third rookie Tyson Enzie would give the Terriers belief and a full blown comeback bid on their hands with his first goal of the tournament to put Yorkton within 5-4 with plenty of time left to find a game tying goal with all of the momentum now in their corner along with Medves shutting the door on the Vipers on the other end to keep the game within touching distance. Unfortunately their valiant efforts were not rewarded as an empty net goal would extinguish the Terriers comeback flame once and for all and the Terriers would fall to 0-2 in the tournament, largely in part to some horrible second period play over the course of the two losses.
Thomson would make 13 of 18 saves in around 25 minutes of work while Riley Medves would put up a half shutout by making all 15 saves during his relief appearance, impressive considering he struggled when thrown in the fire initially at the Western Canada Cup while Thomson was absent due to illness.
Yorkton would lose the game despite controlling the puck and the offensive zone time for long stretches of the game, outshooting the Vipers in the end 44-33. Austin Smith kept the Vipers afloat with a 40 save night, but in the end Vernon arguably stole a win thanks to a complete mental meltdown by the entire Terriers unit during the span when the Vipers extended their 1-0 lead to 5-0 in under four minutes.
With two RBC Cup playoff round berths locked up by the Dauphin Kings and the Carleton Place Canadians after Tuesday victories pushed Dauphin to a perfect 3-0 and Carleton Place to 2-1 the Terriers will be hoping that security of knockout round play will lessen the blow that is having to play the two top teams so far in the tournament in must win situations to keep their hopes of lifting the RBC Cup alive.
As it stands the Terriers will be chasing 1-2 Vernon and 1-3 Toronto for the final playoff spots, a proposition that will require Yorkton to win both of their round robin finales to guarantee them a place in weekend action. A place they were in at the same point of the round robin under two weeks ago when the Terriers bounced back from a 1-2 start and being placed in a must win round robin game to eventually finish with a place in the Championship where they knocked off the Kings to advance to Vernon, an experience that Trent Cassan will likely lean back on in attempting to get his experienced team back into high gear.
Yorkton will first have to play the Canadians before getting a shot at a Kings team they have a 2-0 record against in May, making things a little more complicated as they take on the 2-1 second place holders that will have the element of the unknown in play yet again in the matchup.
One thing that will be in the Terriers favor heading into the matchup will be the fact that the Kings did beat the Canadians 4-3 in OT on Sunday night, a result that will give the team confidence that if they beat the Kings twice on Dauphin's home ice that turning around their season against the Ottawa area upstarts is entirely possible.
If the Terriers are to survive and advance against Carleton Place they will need a return to form from Kale Thomson to do so should Trent Cassan expectedly give his 20 year old veteran the nod in what could be his final Junior A appearance. Thomson battled back from the flu in Dauphin, but has seen his goals against numbers spike from his stellar statistics during the SJHL regular season and playoffs. As it stands at the RBC Cup, Thomson has allowed five goals in each of his two appearances, one that was cut halfway short. If the Terriers are to get into the knockout round he will need to play with the confidence and veteran cool that has earned him CJHL Goalie of the Year nominee honors.
Thomson will also need a strong defensive effort in addition to a quick start for the Terriers, who despite getting the first goal in their opening game thanks to Tayler Thompson haven't been the team with the early jump in their step in each of their two games. Something that has been the turning point in consecutive second periods where their opponents have pulled away in the early moments. A key factor that will need to be addressed by Cassan leading up to this evening.
Should the Terriers lose on Wednesday it would end a run that has seen the Yorkton Terriers achieve the greatest heights of any team in Junior A hockey over the past two seasons. Two SJHL titles, two Western Canada Cup appearances including the 2014 title this month and of course their first RBC Cup appearance since the 2006 season. Accomplishments that firmly put the Terriers in front as the best Junior A hockey team in the country over a two year span will serve as a consolation prize that no Terriers player will be wanting to take leading up to Wednesday's do or die round robin showdown in Vernon. A win puts the Terriers closer to a chance at the RBC Cup this weekend while a loss ends the Junior careers of several of the best Terriers players to ever grace the Farrell Agencies Arena. Regardless of outcome, the Terriers round robin will write a climatic chapter in what has been a wild run for everyone involved over the past two seasons. All of that will be on the line in Vernon with the Terriers looking to keep their run alive.
