After winning the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League title for the second straight season the Yorkton Terriers were reminded just how difficult the new path to the Royal Bank Cup is as the Western Canada Cup has shown the back to back league champions no love through the first week of round robin play. The only returning team in the five team tournament comprised of the league champions from the British Columbia Junior Hockey League, Alberta Junior Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League and the SJHL in addition to host city Dauphin, the Terriers have experienced arguably more ups and downs at this tournament than any of their opponents despite holding the experience edge.
From starting goaltender Kale Thomson fighting a bout with the flu bug and sitting out the opening game of the tournament in a loss to the Winnipeg Blues to short whistles and poor penalty killing costing them a loss to the Spruce Grove Saints in overtime on Tuesday, life has not been easy for the Terriers who now face a must win game against the 3-0 Coquitlam Express to just stay alive in the tournament after posting a 1-2 record through three games.
After losing just two games in the SJHL Playoffs it looked like Yorkton would be heading to Dauphin with momentum leading up to their Saturday afternoon matchup with the Winnipeg Blues to kick off the Western Canada Cup where they would have distinct home ice advantage with many Terriers fans making the short two hour trip to Dauphin after many missed out on last year's WCC with the tournament taking place in far off Nanaimo. However disaster struck early for the Terriers as after Trent Cassan submitted his lineup it was determined that Kale Thomson would be inactive and Riley Medves would be forced to make his first start since the final day of the regular season in goal for the Terriers in place of the SJHL Goaltender of the Year.
Medves, who just won six of his 12 regular season starts, would be looking for some confidence boosting early in the game to get comfortable after the long layoff and would find no such opportunity as the Blues smelled blood in the water with the untested Medves in goal. Winnipeg would bombard the goalie whose last start was on March 1 in a three goal first period en route to a 3-1 victory over the shocked SJHL champions.
It wasn't the start the Terriers and head coach Trent Cassan wanted as just 2:01 into the first period the Blues Jake Stillwell would get the Blues on the board redirecting one past Medves, that gave the MJHL champs the 1-0 lead before their backup could gain much confidence between the posts. The Terriers would find a little bit of jump after the initial Stillwell tally and manufacture some good chances on goal but couldn't beat Blues goalie Byron Spriggs who continued his phenomenal run of form from the Manitoba playoffs. With Spriggs preventing the Terriers from answering back with a quick equalizer, the Blues would add two more to end off the period, one just as the second powerplay expired off the stick of Ryan Bittner before Clay Tait would add another his 1st of the tournament to give the Blues a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes in a sudden and swift crash to earth for Yorkton.
As expected, Yorkton came out flying in the second period and looked like they found out their legs a little more and then they were given a lifeline thanks to a Blues penalty that sent the Terriers on the man advantage. On the powerplay, the Terriers would convert just 15 seconds into the man advantage as Riley Hunt would deflect home the Terriers first of the tournament to cut the deficit to 3-1. Yorkton would continue to battle for the rest of the second period, ultimately being unable to beat Spriggs who kept the score at a distance for the Blues who retained a multiple score edge with a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
In the 3rd period the Terriers had more opportunities to get back into the tournament opener but they would find struggles in being able to beat the Blues netminder Byron Spriggs who really settled in as the game got close to the final stretch in a quest to get an unexpected win for the Blues. Spriggs highlight was a huge save on Tyler Giebel with just over 11 minutes remaining in regulation which could've really turned around the game for Yorkton who were looking to get within a goal of the Blues to make things interesting in the third period.
In the end goaltending and the first period shock of playing without their starter as well as conceding three goals to the Blues would prove to be the difference in a difficult opening game loss for the Terriers as they were unable to find a way in the game thanks to the masterful performance of Spriggs who saved 25 out of 26 shots in the win where he was undoubtedly the MVP for Winnipeg.
For the Terriers their opening game would serve as one that got away from them as after their first period shock the team settled in and rallied around Medves, who in the end made 21 saves in two shutout periods of hockey following the 3-0 deficit that gave his team more than enough chances to get back into the game.
A loss that would force the Terriers into a tough Sunday night game against host Dauphin in what would be the most anticipated game of the weekend as both sets of passionate local fans filled the arena for a game that served as a must win for both teams.
Kale Thomson would also return to the goal for the Terriers after his one game absence due to the flu to give the Terriers even more motivation to go out and get back on track against the host Kings, who lost in five games to the Winnipeg Blues in the MJHL Playoffs prior to the WCC. After Dauphin went 1-0 to start the tournament with a 4-2 win over Spruce Grove it would also allow Yorkton to get back within the back after being the first team in the tournament to lose on Saturday afternoon.
Yorkton got an inspired boost right off the bat as rookie AP call up Corwin Stevely would get on the board first for the Terriers with an early goal less than ten minutes in to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead. Stevely, the captain of the 2013/14 Yorkton Harvest Midget AAA team, would walk in and lift a snap wrist shot over the blocker of Kings goalie Michael Stilladis for the game's first goal and his first of the Western Canada Cup. Moments later, Tayler Thompson would get his first of the tournament on a rebound that put Yorkton up 2-0 just like that in the opening period.
The Kings wouldn't go away and would get one goal on the board before the period expired as Dylan Butler would walk out from below the goal line and feed Chandler Irvin backdoor to cut Dauphin's deficit to a 2-1 Terrier lead after Yorkton took the game to the hosts for much of the first period.
In the second period the offensive fireworks would really start flying as after only three goals in the opening frame both teams combined for a total of nine goals in the second period. Riley Hunt started things off for Yorkton with his second power play goal of the tournament, finishing off a nice passing play by Tayler Thompson to give Yorkton a 3-1 lead and their second two goal lead of the night in Dauphin. The Terriers would then get their first three goal lead as sniper Brett Boehm would get his first goal of the WCC to make it 4-1.
Down big nearing the midway point of the game, the host Kings wouldn't go away as former Weyburn Red Wing Ryan Cooper's long point shot would get through a crowd, beating Thomson to make it a 4-2 Terrier lead. Boehm would continue his hot second period shortly after to get the Terriers back in front by three using his elite wrist shot to get back on the board in a brewing barnburner of a period in Dauphin. Discipline and poor penalty killing would continue to come back to bite the Terriers in the second period to Dauphin's benefit, as the Kings would get another power play goal from Tanner Lomsnes on the doorstep in front of Thomson's crease to make it 5-3. However the Terriers would get back in front by three goals as Boehm decided to continue the show in Dauphin by finishing his second period treble to put Yorkton up 6-3 and get the hats flying onto the ice with his third of the period to complete the hat trick.
Down 6-3, Dauphin would start the final period on the powerplay with the intent on continuing to build what was a classic display of scoring prowess from both teams through 40 minutes. They did just that, making the game interesting and digging themselves back within two as Tanner Butler would get his third goal of the tournament to cut the Terriers lead to just 6-4. Not done there, the Kings would creep back to just one goal back 28 seconds later as former Flin Flon Bomber Dillion McCombie would cut the lead to 6-5 as things would begin to get a bit more nervous for the Terriers and their fans who both knew that going 0-2 in the opening weekend was not an option after getting two three goal leads in the second period.
Kailum Gervais would answer the bell for Yorkton with the lead in danger as he took a well placed feed from Boehm to score a crucial insurance marker to put the Terriers in front 7-5 as the two players switched roles with Gervais being the finisher and the already three goal scorer being the facilitator on his fourth point of the night. After Tanner Lomsnes would add a late goal for Dauphin to make things interesting Gervais would be forced to take matters into his own hands one last time, scoring an empty netter to put the final mark on an 8-6 win in what was one of the highest scoring games in the Canadian Junior Hockey League postseason with a whopping 14 pucks hitting the netting on Sunday night in a win that the Terriers sorely needed after Thomson's absence helped lead to a rough start.
Gaining some momentum back in their pockets, Yorkton would be given the day off on Monday before taking on 0-2 Spruce Grove in what was a must win for both teams as the Saints would look to keep their hopes of playing in playoff play on the weekend alive with a win while the Terriers would look to avoid a round robin finale against undefeated Coquitlam being a must win as a victory over the winless AJHL representatives would ensure them of a top four finish and security heading into their final game.
Boehm would continue his hot play for the Terriers in a big way to start the game as the leading regular season and playoff scorer for Yorkton would beat Saints netminder Kenny Cameron with a laser of a slap shot to give the Saskatchewan boys a 1-0 lead in the early stages of the opening period. Late in the period the Saints would pounce on a powerplay opportunity late on in the opening frame as Parker Mackay would beat Kale Thomson to level the score after Yorkton worked hard to get on the front foot.
In the second period the theme would continue as Yorkton would again grab the lead with the first goal of the period as Giebel would tip in a Devon McMullen shot from the blueline to give the Terriers a 2-1 lead before the officials would again hand the Saints some more opportunities on the powerplay that Spruce Grove were bound to convert. This time it was Cameron Hughes as the Saints would tie the game on two powerplay goals after Yorkton leads in the first two periods.
After both goaltenders kept the game scoreless through the third period the Terriers would head to a familiar place as the game went to overtime, something that appeared to benefit Yorkton who were a whopping 7-1 in overtime in the SJHL Playoffs leading into a crucial sudden death with the Saints with both teams RBC Cup hosts as close to being on the line as possible in the second last game of the round robin for both teams.
Once again penalties would prove to be the difference for the Terriers as the officials again put Spruce Grove on the powerplay, this time on a dubious tripping penalty on Boehm inside of the Saints zone and miles away from the Yorkton goal to put the AJHL champs on the powerplay. As expected the Saints made no mistake as a Carson Samoridny rocket would give Spruce Grove a win that the Terriers felt they deserved as they dominated play on even strength, but could not overcome a powerplay disadvantage that saw the Alberta team go to the man advantage an eyebrow raising seven times while Yorkton just got three man advantages throughout the game.
Postgame Terriers head coach Trent Cassan praised his team's effort in his interview with GX94's broadcast, but also had some reservations about the overtime penalty that was called on Boehm that Cassan felt was harsh luck even if some of his teams penalties were admittedly deserved on the evening.
"It was a good effort, I think we did everything but win the hockey game," says Cassan. "Obviously special teams were a huge factor, but the guys played hard right from the start, blocked a lot of shots and we got a great effort from Kale in goal."
On the postgame penalty kill that ultimately led to the Terriers defeat, Cassan kept his usual composure and class despite not being too pleased to see his team go down to 1-2 in the tournament on a ticky tack tripping call in an overtime frame where it was expected the whistles would be less active.
"I mean what can you say about that call," says Cassan. "It is 200 feet away from our net and one hand on the stick, it is disappointing it had to come to that in overtime."
"I can understand some of the calls on us tonight were definitely deserving, but that was a hard one to swallow," concluded Cassan.
Needing a round robin finale win against the undefeated Coquitlam Express to keep their hopes of playing in the knockout round on the weekend alive the Terriers are now in a predicament that they did not envision themselves being in when the tournament began as the only returning team in the field. Playing arguably the best team in the tournament, Cassan is making the message clear that the Terriers will need to find a way to raise their play even more than they did during their hard luck OT defeat.
"We obviously need a win now here to stay alive in the tournament and keep our hopes of seeing what we can do once the weekend starts," says Cassan. "We are going to have to be desperate."
If Yorkton does not win in their round robin finale it will conclude the careers of many successful longterm Terriers who have etched their names on the historic stories of the franchise. From the likes of captain Devon McMullen who has played in three SJHL Finals for the Terriers to goaltender Kale Thomson and forward Tayler Thompson who have logged many years for their hometown club a battle with Coquitlam will decide their Junior careers while the Express already have a place in the WCC Championship all but wrapped up with their undefeated record to date. If the Terriers are going to take one advantage into their round robin finale it is that they will be the team with everything on the line, after making a reputation out of always finding a way to keep the season alive over the past two seasons 60 minutes will decide whether or not the magical run of the defending SJHL champions sees another weekend.
