Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League

Terriers Look To Snap Losing Skid

Photo Credit: Simple Shots By Jackie

Story Coming In:

The Terriers’ losing streak has now reached seven games. A pair of missed empty nets in the third period on Tuesday extended the skid, despite the Terriers solid play. Overall, the coaching staff feels like the team is playing well and deserved the win during their last couple of outings. Caleb Allen has been better over the last two games. The Lone Tree, Colorado product was over .900 in save percentage over the contests, while making some big saves to keep his team in the contest. The biggest thing the Terriers need is scoring. Lately, it’s been Pavel McKenzie, Cade Kennedy and Dylan Ruptash who have found the back of the net for Yorkton, but if the Terriers want to turn things around, they will need the veterans to step up and start contributing. Greg Nelson has only one point in the last six games, Maddux Nollski is stuck in an 18 game goalless drought, while Colton Koran has no points in his last five games. If the 20-year-olds can’t produce, then it will be a rough end of the year for Yorkton.              

View From Melfort:

The Mustangs are a sleeper team heading into the playoffs. Despite sitting in 6th place in the SJHL, the Mustangs have a veteran-laden squad with the ability to cause an upset to a higher seeded team. Dawson Leroux leads the team in scoring at an almost point a game pace, while Ben Tkachuk, Zac Somers and Clarke Huxley are the heartbeat of this team. The goaltenders remain the same from last year and are arguably the best tandem in SJHL, with both James Venne and Joel Favreau getting their team a chance to win night in and night out. The only question is have the Mustangs learned their lesson from a playoff heartbreak last season, where the Terriers dashed the dreams of a championship.

 

The Man From The Capital:

It hasn’t been the ideal season for Cade Kennedy. The Regina product started the year on the sidelines recovering from offseason knee surgery. Then after scoring in his first game back, offense became hard to come by for the 18-year-old. Kennedy has now hit double digits and points, which includes goals in back to back games. If the Terriers want a chance to qualify for postseason hockey, Kennedy will need to lead a promising group of 18-year-olds on the team. The hope is, now that Kennedy has hit the back of the net a couple of times, that the points will continue to roll for the former Yorkton Mauler.

 

Stats Leaders For Yorkton:

Goals: Ruptash (17)

Assists: Hall (15)

Points:  Ruptash (27)

PIM: Mayes (144)

Goalie: Allen 12-18-1, 3.92, 0.893% 1SO 1G