Deep into the final stretch towards the SJHL playoffs as defending champions the Yorkton Terriers are more than aware of how tough the February swing can be.
With nearly every team battling for some sort of playoff positioning or in the mix of a division title race for a first round bye games in February are only slightly less competitive than the real playoffs come early March.
After a loss to the Humboldt Broncos last Tuesday, Terriers head coach Trent Cassan pointed to the team's weekend set against the La Ronge Ice Wolves and Melfort Mustangs as matchups that are tougher than a casual observer might think when looking at the team's positioning in the standings.
"The way the playoff format in this league works everyone usually is right in the fight until the end of the season and with so many teams fighting for seeding for the playoffs road trips can be difficult because you are going to get your opponent's best effort almost every night," says Cassan.
The trip would also be an overnight affair for the Terriers as they would travel far north to La Ronge before playing in Melfort to close the weekend. Cassan mentioned that the Terriers play very little of these trips prior to heading on the road.
"I don't know the exact number, but we have the benefit of not having to do to many overnight trips thanks to our geographical location where we are close to everything," says Cassan who also mentioned that the change in routine isn't a problem for a veteran team. "We have a lot of guys who have been playing together for three, four years now and have been going on road trips together forever so overnight trips are just another part of our schedule."
That would be put to the test on Friday as the Terriers failed to get on the scoreboard in the opening period during their meeting with the Ice Wolves, trying to find their legs Yorkton would outshoot La Ronge 15-13 but could not find the quality scoring chance to beat starting goalie Tyler Fuhr.
La Ronge would draw first blood in the second period as Daulton Siwak would give the Ice Wolves the lead six minutes in. The goal would awake the Terriers as Zach Zadorozniak would answer less than ten minutes later with a late second period goal to tie the game at 1-1. Chase Norrish would score with just 27 seconds left in the second period to give the Terriers a 2-1 lead and the momentum heading into the third making Siwak's early goal and the scoreless first period an afterthought.
The goals would stop coming again in the third, but with under five minutes Dylan Johnson would find the insurance tally on the powerplay to give himself his tenth goal of the season.
La Ronge would find a goal to get back within one, but it would be too little too late as Tayler Thompson would put salt in the wounds with a goal with one second left to wrap things up in a 4-2 Terrier win to get back in the win column.
Kale Thomson made 33 saves on 35 shots in the win while Fuhr was given the loss for La Ronge stopping 34 shots of 38. The win would be the 27th of the season for Thomson who will be chasing the 30 win plateau in his final Junior year.
Thomson would have a chance for win number 28 the following night in Melfort as the Terriers would take on the Kramer Division leaders in a battle between the strongest and weakest conferences in the SJHL with the Sherwood Division leading Terriers having 20 more points than the Mustangs heading into their final meeting of the season.
Brett Boehm would open the game's scoring with his 25th of the year just 45 seconds into play to give the Terriers the lead. It would be the only goal of the opening period as Yorkton controlled the tempo and dictated the game by outshooting Melfort 11-5.
Things would fall apart in the second period as three unanswered goals from Melfort would flip the game on its head as Anthony Pickering would score twice, including the goal to give the Mustangs the lead in a three goal explosion over the opening ten minutes of the second period.
Not to be outdone the Terriers got back into the game thanks to the steady guidance of one of their veteran leaders as Tayler Thompson would score his 19th of the year to cut the deficit to just one goal.
In the third period the Terriers would find their hero in an unlikely place as a 2013/14 rookie would score his first SJHL goal late on in the season as defenseman Holden Cronin's first league tally would level things at 3-3 with just under ten minutes left. Cronin's goal would earn the Terriers a point as they could not find the winner over the final nine minutes and overtime before losing in the shootout.
The three point weekend would keep Yorkton ahead of Melville for first in the league as while as the Sherwood Division. At the time of writing Wednesday Yorkton was in first place with 71 points through 51 games, good enough for a one point lead over the rival Mils with two games at hand.
Those games at hand lead to a busy week for the Terriers as they will be hosting their final three home games before heading out on a two game road trip to close out the regular season.
Over the five game stretch the Terriers will avoid division leaders in Kindersley and Melfort, but will still be in tough to clinch the regular season pennant. Yorkton will host a Weyburn team that always play them tough on Thursday before hosting Nipawin Saturday and Notre Dame on February 26 to close out their regular season schedule at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
From there the Terriers will travel to Flin Flon on February 28 to take on the Bombers before closing out their 2013/14 SJHL season with a game in Humboldt. If Yorkton can stay above .500 in this stretch first place in the league, and home ice advantage should be a lock. That is easier said than done, but for now with just five games remaining it is looking like the Yorkton Terriers will enter the SJHL playoffs the way they entered the regular season, as the odds on favourties.
Around the League
Mils' Kilback wins Player of the Week
Melville's Allen Kilback is back in form after missing a chunk of the season due to injury. In the midst of the Terriers/Millionaires race for first place in the league/division Kilback racked up five goals and three assists in a pair of Millionaire victories last week. Kilback contributed a hat trick on Valentine's Day as he helped the Mils win their last road game of the season in Humboldt in what was a massive victory. One night later, Kilback was again clutch in a three point home performance over the Red Wings. Those two performances made Kilback a clear cut choice for Canalta Hotels SJHL Player of the Week and kept his Millionaires hope of stealing the division lead from the Terriers.
Melville's Sam Genereux would win Defenseman of the Week while Tyrell King of the Kindersley Klippers would win Goaltender of the Week honours.
Division races heating in race to March
With the SJHL regular season heating up there is little between teams in the SJHL's new playoff format. With three divisions and a new seeeding system there is plenty to watch for over the next two weeks as teams are jockeying for position. While Kindersley have the Kramer Division title locked down just one point separates the Terriers/Mils in the Viterra while the Nipawin Hawks can still catch the Melfort Mustangs in the Sherwood Division. Not to mention the three team race between Yorkton-Kindersley-Melville giving fans plenty of entertainment to end the season.
