Klippers, Bruins Win on Thursday Night!

An SJHL rarity on a Thursday night, not only one, but two games on the schedule which saw one team beginning a three game road trip and another finishing one off.

We start in Wilcox where the Notre Dame Hounds welcomed the Kindersley Klippers to the southeast for there first of three game in three nights. The Klippers overcame any potential bus legs as they disposed of the Hounds 5-2. Brett Leedahl led the way for the Klippers with two goals while Jonathan Redlick added a goal and an assist. Jeremy Beller and Matt Sawa also scored for the Klippers. Ryan Sawka chipped in with two assists to continue his hot streak. Justin Perreaux, Ben Ritchie, Kirk Pearce and Steven Turner also had assists for Kindersley. Tanner Vandesype and Eddie Gale each had a goal and an assist for Notre Dame. Travis Janke and Rylan Schwartz also had assists for the Hounds. Ryan Nieszner picked up the win for Kindersley as he stopped 20 of 22 shots faced. Mark Currie made 30 stops in the Notre Dame goal. The Klippers move within one point of second place in the Sherwood with the victory. The Hounds fall to 7-16-1-0.

In Estevan, a tired looking bunch of Battlefords North Stars were probably just looking to head home after a rough trip to the Sherwood. The Stars were shutout in two of the three games to the south and outscored by a toal of 23-2 in the three games. Tonight things hit rock bottom as the Stars were hammered 13-0 by the Bruins. It will be quicker to tell you who on the Bruins did not hit the scoresheet. Defenseman Kealin Wong, who coinceidentally is the Bruins top offensive defenseman go figure, was the only Bruin skater held off the scoresheet. Gabriel Carle had a six point night as he had a goal and five assists. Kyle Stroh broke out of a slump as he had two goals and two assists. Brennan Wrigley had a goal and three assists. Kyle Ermel picked up a goal and two assists. Brody Haygarth and Niko Grose each had two goals. Payden Benning, playing his first game in a couple of weeks picked up the Gordie Howe hat trick as he had a goal, an assist and a fighting major. Other goal scorers for Estevan were Kyle Garagan, Trevor Mock and Trent Rumpel. Newcomer Riley Hughes had two assists in his first game for the Bruins after being acquired from the OCN Blizzard for Guillaume Perusse. Chad Filteau, Liam Brennan and Riley Tetreault all added two assists each. The Bruins jump to 11-9-2-0 well the Stars slide continues as they are now a pathetic 2-20-1-1. Rebuilding or not, how much longer does Gary Clark have in North Battleford? I think this team has quit on him. Lack of talent or not, you should never lose a game 13-0 unless your playing football. According to Stars123 the Stars are not that bad. I would hate to see his definition of bad. Lost in my little rant, David Ritz made his first start as a Bruin and made 23 saves for the shutout.

Tradewinds: The Estevan Bruins have shipped defenseman Mike Salter to the Portage Terriers of the MJHL for future considerations. Salter was injured for most of his time in Estevan.

SJHL Friday:

Kindersley @ Weyburn
Nipawin @ Melfort
Yorkton @ Flin Flon

Note: For those of you complaining about Selinger not being named a star the other night and Bly being named first star so be it. The three stars each night are picked by the penalty box crew for that night's game. The three of us that night put our heads together and all thought Bly was our best forward that night. Not to take anything away from Selinger, I thought he played a great game but I have no regrets with our decision.

To the guy who said we are pumping up the tires of certain players only - give your head a shake. Each game we evaluate the game based on the three best players that night and if they are all from the visiting team so be it.

For the record, the three stars on North Battleford radio that night were:
1 - AJ Whiffen, 2- Rhett Bly, 3- Ryan Kerpan.

Our picks don't look so bad now. If anyone out there is interested in picking the three stars at the games let me know. That includes any of you that left comments. I am open to anyone who wants to help out. If you don't want to leave your name on the comments section just send me a private e-mail to mcneilb@hotmail.com and I will accomodate you. Good night and see you all at the rink tomorrow night.

- Brad M.