Wonderful Whiffen! Red Wings Complete Weekend Sweep of Bruins!

The Weyburn Red Wings, at least for the time being, find themselves at the top of the Sherwood Conference after posting a 3-0 shutout win over the visiting Estevan Bruins on Saturday night at the Colosseum. AJ Whiffen was on his game again tonight as he stopped all 39 Estevan shots fired his way to pick up his third shutout of the season. Rhett Bly scored a power play goal, his 7th of the season, in the first period to put the Wings up 1-0. Luke Johnson and Stephen Simms assisted on the goal. Carter Selinger put the Wings up 2-0 at the 8:18 mark of the second after stepping out of the penalty box and being sent on a breakaway. Simms and Brayden Nargang assisted on the goal. The Wings capped off the scoring later in the third period after Josh Bray stepped out on the ice on a delayed penalty against the Bruins. Bray was sent in on a breakaway by Jared Whincup and made no mistake snapping the shot through Karsten Felske as he picked up his 15th of the season. Kyle Haines also assisted on the goal. Bruins coach Karry Biette was upset after the Bray goal feeling that Bray had stepped on the ice before Whiffen had got back to the bench for the extra attacker. Felske kept his team in the game as he stopped 22 of 25 Weyburn shots. The Bruins look like a frustrated club as of late and that was evidenced by a third period misconduct penalty to Bruins forward Payden Benning. The Wings leapfrog the Melville Millionaires into first place in the Sherwood with a record of 15-8-2-2. The Bruins are now 12-12-2-0 and all of a sudden are now five points back of fourth place Yorkton.

In Melville, the Millionaires were also looking for a weekend home and home sweep as they welcomed the Yorkton Terriers to town. However, Logan Dew spoiled the party as he scored the go ahead goal with only 1:42 to go in the third to send the Mils crowd home unhappy. Kyle Block and Corey Silverson also scored while Jordan Pawelec, a former Millionaire, added two assists. Dion Campbell had a goal and an assist for the Millionaires. Derek Edwards also scored for Melville. Levi Lind picked up his third point in three games as a Millionaire as he assisted on Edwards' goal. Lynden Sammartino was phenomenal in the Yorkton goal as he made 51 saves. Kyle Cantlon stopped 25 shots in the Melville goal. The Millionaires drop to 16-7-1-0 and fall to second place in the Sherwood with the loss. They do however have three games in hand on Weyburn. Yorkton stays in fourth with a record of 13-10-2-3 but are only three points back of first place Weyburn as the standings at the top continue to tighten. Should note - Melville wore their third jersies tonight and they are the ugliest things I have ever seen.

The Kindersley Klippers kept pace with the pack in the Sherwood Conference as they defeated the Battlefords North Stars for the second night in a row, a 5-3 win at home tonight. Casey Rempel scored twice and added an assist to lead the way for the Klippers. Kirk Pearce added a goal and an assist while there other linemate Matt Sawa had two assists. Ryan Sawka and Jayde Dunser also scored for Kindersley. Shawn McNulty picked up two goals for the North Stars while Tyrel Schulko added a single. Jason Walker added two assists for the Stars. Ryan Nieszner stopped 26 shots to pick up the win. Ryan Kerpan stopped 31 shots in the Battlefords goal. The Klippers are third in the Sherwood with a record of 15-10-0-2. The Stars drop to 3-22-1-1.

Finally, in La Ronge, the Humboldt Broncos dropped their third in a row as they fell 3-1 to the Ice Wolves. Jordie Johnston had a goal and two assists to lead the Ice Wolves. Bruno-Pier Gosselin added two goals. Russell Nielsen had the lone goal for the Broncos. Jonathan Jobin was spectacular for La Ronge as he stopped 46 Humboldt shots. Taylor Nelson allowed three goals on 30 shots in the Humboldt goal. The Broncos are now 18-6-0-0 and cling to a one point lead over second place Melfort in the Itech Conference. La Ronge is now 13-12-1-1 and sit fourth in the Itech.

Tonight's Three Stars:

* AJ Whiffen - Weyburn Red Wings (39 saves, league leading third shutout of the season)
** Lynden Sammartino - Yorkton Terriers (51 saves in win over Melville)
*** Casey Rempel - Kindersley Klippers (3 point night to help lead Klippers to victory)

Tradewinds:

Rumors are circulating out of Nipawin that third year Hawk Adam Schwark has been dealt to the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the AJHL. Schwark has 23 points in 23 games this season and was second in Hawks scoring. We will post more once things become official.

A couple of deals that were completed:

The Kindersley Klippers have sorted out their goaltending situation and have sent rookie goaltender Randy Willis to the Blind River Beavers of the NOJHL for futures. Willis was stuck in a logjam behind Ryan Nieszner and Matt Weninger in Kindersley.

Meanwhile, the Melfort Mustangs have sent forward Brendan Baumgartner to Fort Francess of the SIJHL for futures.

I would expect we will see quite a few more deals in the next couple of weeks and will let you know as soon as we know if anything comes to fruition.

- Brad M.