The Stars advance after a 7-4 win over Melfort Sunday night.
In the Bauer Conference it will be the Battlefords vs La Ronge and in the Sherwood Conference it will be Kindersley vs Yorkton.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Ice Wolves 3 Bombers 1
La Ronge has iced the series with a 3-1 victory Sunday night at home and with the win take the series 4-2.
Former Klipper Travis Eggum and the La Ronge Ice Wolves advance to the Bauer Conference finals and await the winner of the Battleford/Melfort series.
And thus ends a great SJHL career for former Klipper goaltender Matt Weninger. It's unfortunate that he couldn't pull out some magic in the third period tonight but that's the way things go in hockey.
At the other end of the rink Wolves' tender Adam Bartko was spectacular in the series and they are starting to look like a team that will be hard to beat in the next round of the playoffs.
Playoff hockey is great and things are heating up! Get to the rink!
Former Klipper Travis Eggum and the La Ronge Ice Wolves advance to the Bauer Conference finals and await the winner of the Battleford/Melfort series.
And thus ends a great SJHL career for former Klipper goaltender Matt Weninger. It's unfortunate that he couldn't pull out some magic in the third period tonight but that's the way things go in hockey.
At the other end of the rink Wolves' tender Adam Bartko was spectacular in the series and they are starting to look like a team that will be hard to beat in the next round of the playoffs.
Playoff hockey is great and things are heating up! Get to the rink!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Klippers roll on to Sherwood final
JOSH LEWIS
The Clarion
Their playoff motto is Outwork, Outwill, Outsmart and that’s exactly what the Kindersley Klippers did to the Notre Dame Hounds.
The Klippers wrapped up a four-game sweep of the Hounds Wednesday in Eston with a 4-1 victory, earning a trip to the Sherwood Conference final and a lengthy break while six other teams finish their quarterfinal series.
“We outworked them. We outwilled them. We wanted to win more than they did,” said right winger Taylor Duzan, who scored twice Wednesday, including an empty-netter to clinch the series.
“The more we hit them, the more we outworked them, the madder they got and they weren’t able to capitalize on opportunities. It really helped with the hard work we had. We just shut them down. They didn’t want to outwork us.”
The Klippers will face either the Weyburn Red Wings or Yorkton Terriers in the conference final beginning next weekend. The upstart Terriers lead that series 3-1. If they hang on, the series starts Saturday in Eston. If the Wings come back, it begins Friday in Weyburn.
“I feel confident that whoever we play, we can beat them,” said goalie Josh Thorimbert. “If we keep up the way we’ve been playing now, we’ll give teams a good run for their money.”
In the Bauer Conference, La Ronge leads Flin Flon 3-1 and Battlefords is ahead of Melfort 2-1.
The Hounds, who finished two points ahead of Kindersley in the regular season, had nothing left Wednesday after losing the two previous games late in the third period.
An unlikely source of offence in Riley Down got the scoring started less than nine minutes in when he crashed the net, fought off two defenders and whacked a garbage goal past Matthew Smidt, who started for the first time in the series.
Some fans weren’t even in their seats yet when the Klippers put the series away early in the second period. Duzan bulged the twine 55 seconds in and Andrew Dommett scored 20 seconds later to put the brooms at the Eston Complex on standby.
“We broke their will,” said head coach Larry Wintoneak. “You could see it in the second period when we scored those two quick ones. That was a big part of the game. Even though they did score a goal (late in the second), we knew we were in full control of the hockey game.”
Rosetown’s A-Jay Moore put a puck past Thorimbert with 1:15 left in the frame, but Notre Dame had nothing left to make a comeback, as they had in Game 3 after falling behind 4-0.
Duzan hit an empty net with 1:08 remaining and soon the Klipper bench was spilling onto the ice in joy.
“We took it to them. Everyone contributed. Everyone was sacrificing their bodies, putting it all on the line,” said Thorimbert, who rebounded from a shaky Game 3 and capped an excellent stretch of goaltending in his first SJHL playoff series.
“I know I didn’t have my best game (Tuesday). I knew coming here (for Game 4) that I had to be there for the guys and I wanted to be there. The guys helped too, they all blocked shots and were letting me see the puck, getting the lanes open, so I have to give a huge kudos to them too.
“I didn’t want to get myself too hyped up or too nervous,” added the 17-year-old. “I had butterflies all series, but I didn’t want to be sick to my stomach. I thought to myself, ‘Just keep playing the way I have all year and give the guys a chance to win.’”
On Tuesday, Kindersley took a 4-0 second period lead on goals by Jordon Hoffman, Duzan, Sanfred King and Kurt Leedahl, only to see it slip away as the Hounds made a concerted push to get back in the series.
Travis Janke and Patrick Thompson-Gale scored later in the second and two impressive goals by Thomas Williams in the third tied the game 4-4 with less than eight minutes left.
With the Hounds holding the momentum, Hoffman cemented an outstanding performance by slipping a shot under a scrambling Smidt with 4:57 to play.
Hoffman, Duzan and King put in a phenomenal final shift, shutting down six Notre Dame skaters over the final 20 seconds by blocking shots, clearing the zone with their hands and, in Duzan’s case, lunging head-first into an opponent’s skates in the dying seconds to block the puck from moving.
Duzan took a two-handed chop from Kyle Ireland across the back of the neck for his effort.
Wintoneak sees an unmistakable all-for-one mindset in his players.
“It’s hard to put it in words. The guys care about each other. They do,” he said. “The deeper you’re going into this thing, there’s a lot of sacrifices. As an athlete, there’s a lot of distractions in a playoff situation but the guys are really focused. I think that’s the strength of our leaders.”
The coach showed his club a video of Ted Lindsay showing the Detroit Red Wing great saying he “never cheated a fan, never cheated the organization.”
Winning the first two games in Wilcox, including King’s literally last-second winner in Game 2, was crucial to the sweep both on the scoreboard and in its effect on both teams’ psyches.
“I think once we got up 2-0, the guys did believe we could win four straight,” said Wintoneak. “You don’t flaunt that around, you don’t start chirping about that, but it’s a low roar in our room. The confidence was there. We knew if we worked hard we’d have success.”
Strong defensive play was another key to the series victory, including the unlikely pairing of Leedahl and Jordan Braid. All indications point to Braid staying on the blueline after moving back when the team had injury problems late in the regular season.
Wintoneak believes he’s getting more out of his captain now than when he played left wing.
“Point production wise, he was down, and I think he was disappointed in his play. As a coach, you have to find ways to get guys going, so we put him on the back end because he skates so well and he’s a bigger body who moves the puck well.”
The pairings of Steven Turner with David Ahl and John Sonntag with Sean Flanagan also did their part, especially in shutting down SJHL scoring leader Travis Janke.
The Klippers will enjoy a few days off before resuming practices on Sunday.
“We’re playing for a pennant now, for a banner, which is nice,” said Wintoneak. “We always said we wanted to play for something and now we’ll get to play for the Sherwood Conference title. It’s going to be exciting.”
The Clarion
Their playoff motto is Outwork, Outwill, Outsmart and that’s exactly what the Kindersley Klippers did to the Notre Dame Hounds.
The Klippers wrapped up a four-game sweep of the Hounds Wednesday in Eston with a 4-1 victory, earning a trip to the Sherwood Conference final and a lengthy break while six other teams finish their quarterfinal series.
“We outworked them. We outwilled them. We wanted to win more than they did,” said right winger Taylor Duzan, who scored twice Wednesday, including an empty-netter to clinch the series.
“The more we hit them, the more we outworked them, the madder they got and they weren’t able to capitalize on opportunities. It really helped with the hard work we had. We just shut them down. They didn’t want to outwork us.”
The Klippers will face either the Weyburn Red Wings or Yorkton Terriers in the conference final beginning next weekend. The upstart Terriers lead that series 3-1. If they hang on, the series starts Saturday in Eston. If the Wings come back, it begins Friday in Weyburn.
“I feel confident that whoever we play, we can beat them,” said goalie Josh Thorimbert. “If we keep up the way we’ve been playing now, we’ll give teams a good run for their money.”
In the Bauer Conference, La Ronge leads Flin Flon 3-1 and Battlefords is ahead of Melfort 2-1.
The Hounds, who finished two points ahead of Kindersley in the regular season, had nothing left Wednesday after losing the two previous games late in the third period.
An unlikely source of offence in Riley Down got the scoring started less than nine minutes in when he crashed the net, fought off two defenders and whacked a garbage goal past Matthew Smidt, who started for the first time in the series.
Some fans weren’t even in their seats yet when the Klippers put the series away early in the second period. Duzan bulged the twine 55 seconds in and Andrew Dommett scored 20 seconds later to put the brooms at the Eston Complex on standby.
“We broke their will,” said head coach Larry Wintoneak. “You could see it in the second period when we scored those two quick ones. That was a big part of the game. Even though they did score a goal (late in the second), we knew we were in full control of the hockey game.”
Rosetown’s A-Jay Moore put a puck past Thorimbert with 1:15 left in the frame, but Notre Dame had nothing left to make a comeback, as they had in Game 3 after falling behind 4-0.
Duzan hit an empty net with 1:08 remaining and soon the Klipper bench was spilling onto the ice in joy.
“We took it to them. Everyone contributed. Everyone was sacrificing their bodies, putting it all on the line,” said Thorimbert, who rebounded from a shaky Game 3 and capped an excellent stretch of goaltending in his first SJHL playoff series.
“I know I didn’t have my best game (Tuesday). I knew coming here (for Game 4) that I had to be there for the guys and I wanted to be there. The guys helped too, they all blocked shots and were letting me see the puck, getting the lanes open, so I have to give a huge kudos to them too.
“I didn’t want to get myself too hyped up or too nervous,” added the 17-year-old. “I had butterflies all series, but I didn’t want to be sick to my stomach. I thought to myself, ‘Just keep playing the way I have all year and give the guys a chance to win.’”
On Tuesday, Kindersley took a 4-0 second period lead on goals by Jordon Hoffman, Duzan, Sanfred King and Kurt Leedahl, only to see it slip away as the Hounds made a concerted push to get back in the series.
Travis Janke and Patrick Thompson-Gale scored later in the second and two impressive goals by Thomas Williams in the third tied the game 4-4 with less than eight minutes left.
With the Hounds holding the momentum, Hoffman cemented an outstanding performance by slipping a shot under a scrambling Smidt with 4:57 to play.
Hoffman, Duzan and King put in a phenomenal final shift, shutting down six Notre Dame skaters over the final 20 seconds by blocking shots, clearing the zone with their hands and, in Duzan’s case, lunging head-first into an opponent’s skates in the dying seconds to block the puck from moving.
Duzan took a two-handed chop from Kyle Ireland across the back of the neck for his effort.
Wintoneak sees an unmistakable all-for-one mindset in his players.
“It’s hard to put it in words. The guys care about each other. They do,” he said. “The deeper you’re going into this thing, there’s a lot of sacrifices. As an athlete, there’s a lot of distractions in a playoff situation but the guys are really focused. I think that’s the strength of our leaders.”
The coach showed his club a video of Ted Lindsay showing the Detroit Red Wing great saying he “never cheated a fan, never cheated the organization.”
Winning the first two games in Wilcox, including King’s literally last-second winner in Game 2, was crucial to the sweep both on the scoreboard and in its effect on both teams’ psyches.
“I think once we got up 2-0, the guys did believe we could win four straight,” said Wintoneak. “You don’t flaunt that around, you don’t start chirping about that, but it’s a low roar in our room. The confidence was there. We knew if we worked hard we’d have success.”
Strong defensive play was another key to the series victory, including the unlikely pairing of Leedahl and Jordan Braid. All indications point to Braid staying on the blueline after moving back when the team had injury problems late in the regular season.
Wintoneak believes he’s getting more out of his captain now than when he played left wing.
“Point production wise, he was down, and I think he was disappointed in his play. As a coach, you have to find ways to get guys going, so we put him on the back end because he skates so well and he’s a bigger body who moves the puck well.”
The pairings of Steven Turner with David Ahl and John Sonntag with Sean Flanagan also did their part, especially in shutting down SJHL scoring leader Travis Janke.
The Klippers will enjoy a few days off before resuming practices on Sunday.
“We’re playing for a pennant now, for a banner, which is nice,” said Wintoneak. “We always said we wanted to play for something and now we’ll get to play for the Sherwood Conference title. It’s going to be exciting.”
We play the Terriers!
It'll be (3) Kindersley vs (4) Yorkton in the Sherwood Conference final after the Terriers finished off the Weyburn Red Wings last night at CPP. Yorkton won the game 6-1 and took the series in 5 games to advance.
At the start of the playoffs who would have thought that it would be Kindersley and Yorkton advancing? As impressive as it was for the Klippers to sweep the Notre Dame Hounds the performance by the Yorkton Terriers was amazing. Sure there were close games and overtime but the Terriers dominated the score sheet last night against the league's best team in the regular season.
I'm looking forward to this series and you should too. There will be much more coverage available for this series than the last that's for sure. Terriers play-by-play voice Craig Stein is one of the league's best reporters and will cover this series extremely well so you can keep checking his blog for all the latest info. He'll likely have the series schedule posted before the SJHL does.
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Elsewhere the Battlefords North Stars took a 3-1 series lead in their series with Melfort after last night's 3-2 overtime victory. The Stars seem like they are putting it together after losing the opener in the series.
And the Flin Flon Bombers avoided elimination last night winning 4-3 in overtime over La Ronge. The Ice Wolves still lead the series 3-2. How tense would that overtime period be for the Bombers and Bomber fans? How about Matt Weninger? They pulled through though.
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No games in the league tonight but the Bauer Conference series' will resume tomorrow.
At the start of the playoffs who would have thought that it would be Kindersley and Yorkton advancing? As impressive as it was for the Klippers to sweep the Notre Dame Hounds the performance by the Yorkton Terriers was amazing. Sure there were close games and overtime but the Terriers dominated the score sheet last night against the league's best team in the regular season.
I'm looking forward to this series and you should too. There will be much more coverage available for this series than the last that's for sure. Terriers play-by-play voice Craig Stein is one of the league's best reporters and will cover this series extremely well so you can keep checking his blog for all the latest info. He'll likely have the series schedule posted before the SJHL does.
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Elsewhere the Battlefords North Stars took a 3-1 series lead in their series with Melfort after last night's 3-2 overtime victory. The Stars seem like they are putting it together after losing the opener in the series.
And the Flin Flon Bombers avoided elimination last night winning 4-3 in overtime over La Ronge. The Ice Wolves still lead the series 3-2. How tense would that overtime period be for the Bombers and Bomber fans? How about Matt Weninger? They pulled through though.
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No games in the league tonight but the Bauer Conference series' will resume tomorrow.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Klippers 4 Hounds 1
It's a sweep!
The Kindersley Klippers finished off the Notre Dame Hounds with a 4-1 series clinching victory Wednesday night in Eston. With the win Kindersley has swept it's Sherwood Conference semi-final series 4-0.
The Klippers now await the winner of the Weyburn/Yorkton series. Weyburn, the league's top team in the regular season, is down 3-1 in the series and facing elimination.
The Klippers improve to 10-0-1 in Eston heading into the conference finals.
The Kindersley Klippers finished off the Notre Dame Hounds with a 4-1 series clinching victory Wednesday night in Eston. With the win Kindersley has swept it's Sherwood Conference semi-final series 4-0.
The Klippers now await the winner of the Weyburn/Yorkton series. Weyburn, the league's top team in the regular season, is down 3-1 in the series and facing elimination.
The Klippers improve to 10-0-1 in Eston heading into the conference finals.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Klippers 5 Hounds 4
The Kindersley Klippers jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 5-4 win Tuesday in game three of their Sherwood Conference semi-final series with Notre Dame.
The Hounds clawed their way back to even the score at 4 but Jordon Hoffman would score the winner to help the Klippers take a stranglehold lead in the series.
With a 3-0 series lead the Jr. K's can clinch the series with a victory tonight in Eston.
Notes:
The Hounds clawed their way back to even the score at 4 but Jordon Hoffman would score the winner to help the Klippers take a stranglehold lead in the series.
With a 3-0 series lead the Jr. K's can clinch the series with a victory tonight in Eston.
Notes:
- The Klippers are now 9-0-1 in Eston.
- Kurt Leedahl (SJHL defenceman of the week) now has 1g 4a in three post season games for the Klippers.
- Andrew Dommett has been held scoreless in the series. Look out if he catches fire.
- Big guns in Notre Dame have been mostly silent and will need to step up.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Saskota date change
The 2010 Saskota bowl had a brief scare this week when there was talk of cancelling the annual contest. The issues have since been resolved and the game will go ahead just not quite as scheduled.
The game was origionally scheduled to be played in Lumsden, SK on July 10th. While the location will remain the same the date will not. A conflict with the Shrine Bowl was something the North Dakota squad could not overcome and there was talk that, if another date could not be arranged, the game could end up being cancelled.
The game has now been rescheduled and moved back one week. The 2010 Saskota bowl will be played in Lumsden, SK on July 17th barring any more issues.
Game night: Eston
It's game three tonight in the Klippers' home away from home. The Eston Complex will host game three and four of the SJHL's Sherwood conference semi-final series between the Kindersley Klippers and the Notre Dame Hounds.
Kindersley is 8-0-1 in Eston and will look to take a 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series with the Hounds.
Game 1: Hounds 0 Klippers 1
Game 2: Hounds 3 Klippers 4
Game 3: Tonight in Eston. Game time is 7:30pm.
Kindersley is 8-0-1 in Eston and will look to take a 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series with the Hounds.
Game 1: Hounds 0 Klippers 1
Game 2: Hounds 3 Klippers 4
Game 3: Tonight in Eston. Game time is 7:30pm.
Leedahl named defenceman of the week
Kurt Leedahl, Kindersley Klippers
1990 D Kurt Leedahl (Saskatoon SK) had three assists in the first two games of the Sherwood Conference semi-finals against the Notre Dame Hounds. He was also part of a blueline corps that completely shut the Hounds out in game one.
The Klippers' Josh Thorimbert was named a runner-up for goaltender of the week.
1990 D Kurt Leedahl (Saskatoon SK) had three assists in the first two games of the Sherwood Conference semi-finals against the Notre Dame Hounds. He was also part of a blueline corps that completely shut the Hounds out in game one.
The Klippers' Josh Thorimbert was named a runner-up for goaltender of the week.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Klippers 1 Hounds 0
A second period goal from Braeden Adamyk was all the scoring the Klippers would need as they drew first blood in their Sherwood Conference semi-final series with a 1-0 victory over the Notre Dame Hounds.
Rookie goaltender Josh Thorimbert stopped all 26 Hound shots for the shut-out while Hounds tender Russell Abbott stopped 25 of 26 shots on the night.
The Klippers played what appears to be a very disciplined game only giving up 4 power play opportunities to the Hounds. Kindersley went 0/9 with the extra man. If the Klippers can click on the power play, special teams could be a deciding factor throughout the remainder of the series.
On paper it appears both teams went into a defensive shell in the third. Shots were 6-3 in favor of the Hounds and just one power play in the frame going the way of the Klippers.
Game two in this series goes tonight in Wilcox and the game can be heard on Classic Hits Radio.
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I'm doing a little digging to see if anyone knows why the online broadcasts aren't working. It's pretty frustrating to be unable to hear the game online. Are most experiencing the same problem? I'll let you know what I find out.
Rookie goaltender Josh Thorimbert stopped all 26 Hound shots for the shut-out while Hounds tender Russell Abbott stopped 25 of 26 shots on the night.
The Klippers played what appears to be a very disciplined game only giving up 4 power play opportunities to the Hounds. Kindersley went 0/9 with the extra man. If the Klippers can click on the power play, special teams could be a deciding factor throughout the remainder of the series.
On paper it appears both teams went into a defensive shell in the third. Shots were 6-3 in favor of the Hounds and just one power play in the frame going the way of the Klippers.
Game two in this series goes tonight in Wilcox and the game can be heard on Classic Hits Radio.
-----
I'm doing a little digging to see if anyone knows why the online broadcasts aren't working. It's pretty frustrating to be unable to hear the game online. Are most experiencing the same problem? I'll let you know what I find out.
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