Terriers Return From Holiday Break To Face Melville

Story Coming In:

Despite a pair of losses to Battlefords, the Terriers were playing some of their best hockey of the season through the month of December. With a few key wins, Yorkton finds themselves tied for the final playoff spot with Notre Dame, however, the Hounds do have a few games in hand on the Terriers. January looks to be a crucial month for the orange and black with the first four games against division rivals and six of the eight games against teams around them in the standings. If Yorkton can be above .500 for the month, they will be in an excellent spot to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season.              

View From Melville:

What has happened to the Millionaires? Many picked Melville to win the Viterra Division and be one of the better teams in the SJHL, but that hasn’t happened. The Mils lost eight straight games heading into the Christmas break, including every game in December and find themselves on the outside looking in. If there’s one plus side for Melville, they are only five points back of a playoff spot, but things need to change fast before that hope disappears. Melville made a couple of changes to their roster coming out of the Christmas break. They’ve acquired Zach Bansley from Melfort, who started the season with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, while shipping off Kayden Skulmoski to Manitoba. The Moneymen also saw Kelton Pyne get called up to the Regina Pats full time, allowing them to hand the reins in goal to Clement Labillois. 

 

Shaking Off The Rust:

The holiday break was longer than normal this season in the SJHL. Players received an extra week at home, with most teams returning to practice just after New Year’s Day. With three weeks off, it’s expected that teams will be a little rusty. That means the veterans will need to lead the way, providing extra jump in the lineup, and showing the rookies how to rebound after time off. That means eyes will be on players like Logan Cyca, Tyson Perkins and Clay Sleeva. There will also be an interest in rookies like Dylan Ruptash and Brett Butz to see how they perform coming out of the break. With both Edmonton products playing well heading into Christmas, the Terriers hope they don’t skip a beat and continue to click in 2023.  

 

Stats Leaders For Yorkton:

Goals: Ruptash (13)

Assists: Butz (13)

Points:  Ruptash (22)

PIM: Mayes (127)

Goalie: Allen 12-15-0, 3.88, 0.895% 1SO 1G