Wings Attacked By Wolves!

The Weyburn Red Wings ended a long three game road trip tonight as they headed to La Ronge to battle the Ice Wolves. It was maybe a bad omen earlier in the day when the Red Wings bus got a flat tire on the trip from Flin Flon to La Ronge. The Wings had difficulty generating chances on the power play and seemed to simply run out of gas as they were defeated 4-1. The Ice Wolves would open up a 4-0 lead with goals from Jarrid Dowhay, Jordie Johnston, Adam Moar, and Bruno-Pier Gosselin before Josh Bray scored his 18th of the season at 5:04 of the third period to break the shutout bid of Jonathan Jobin. Calvin Fiddler and Tyler Karst each had two assists for the Ice Wolves. Torrey Lindsay and Michael Seib picked up assists on the Bray goal. Final shots were not posted online by the La Ronge online scorekeeper so I will update that later on. Jobin picks up the win while AJ Whiffen went the distance in goal for the Wings, losing his second straight regulation game for the first time in his SJHL career.

Game Notes: Josh Bray played a regular shift tonight after being used sparingly in Flin Flon on Saturday night........ Luke Johnson was shaken up after blocking a shot early in the game but appeared to be okay as he finished out the game.......... Nick Needham was the victim of a vicious two hand slash by La Ronge defenseman Ken Neufeld in the back of the leg late in the third (as per play by play voice of the Wings Kevin Smith)...... The Wings could not connect on the power play as they went 0/6 including having two 5-on-3 advantages in the first period....... It was also a tough night on the penalty kill as La Ronge went 3 for 5 on the power play...... The Wings now have five full days off to prepare for a tough weekend set that sees them head to Melville on Saturday night before hosting Humboldt on Sunday. The Wings have not defeated either of those teams yet this season so will be looking for revenge on the weekend....... The Red Wings lead in the Sherwood Conference is down to two points over the Melville Millionaires now. The Mils also have three games in hand on the Wings.

Speaking of the Millionaires, thehy tightened the standings tonight as they snuck by the Kindersley Klippers for the second time in three nights, this time by a score of 3-2. Dion Campbell scored twice for the Millionaires who opened up a 3-0 lead before hanging on for the win. Bryant Dyke also scored for the Millionaires while Levi Lind added two assists. Ryan Sawka paced the Klippers with a goal and an assist. Jonathan Redlick scored the other Klippers goal. Both goaltenders were busy on this night as Travis Bosch made 37 saves in the Melville goal while counterpart Ryan Nieszner stopped 40 of 43 Melville shots in the Kindersley goal.

Game Notes: Jordan Wilson picked up his first point as a Millionaire as he assisted on Dyke's goal. Wilson was acquired from the Port Hope Predators of the OPJHL on December 1 in exchange for defenseman Justin Klassen and futures........ Matt Sawa and Scott Linnell were back in the Kindersley lineup after serving their full suspensions....... Bosch has now made 7 consecutive starts for Melville and would appear has taken over the number one job for the Millionaires from Kyle Cantlon...... The Millionaires only have one defenseman, Derek Edwards, with more than 5 points on the season....... Matthew York played in his second game as a Klipper since being acquired by the Fort Frances Sabrecats of the SIJHL.

In North Battleford, the North Stars did manage to pick up a single point with a new look lineup as they posted a 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Nipawin Hawks. Brent Ottmann was the overtime hero as he scored just 14 seconds into the extra frame. Ottmann also had two assists on the night. Keldon Sanderson and Taylor Thiessen also scored for the Hawks. Rick Cey scored his third short handed goal of the season for the Stars. Considering he has only scored six goals, that is an impressive number of short-handed tallies. Mitch Wall also scored for the Stars as he scored with 2:12 to go in the third to force the overtime. Derek Kleinsteuber made 17 saves to pick up the win while Adrien Lemay takes the loss stopping 29 of 32 shots faced.

Game Notes: Torrie Dyck of the Hawks now has at least one point in each of his last seven games........ Bo Lenard, playing his first game as a Star, had his first fight as a Star as he battled Mike Brodziak to a duel in the first period...... Kassidy Collins and Colton Graf also made their North Star debuts tonight as did defenseman Coleman Brodbin and forward Landon Saworski........ Todd Panchyson played his second game of the season for the Hawks since being reassigned by the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL. This is Panchyson's second stint with the Hawks after being re-assigned midway through last season to the Hawks from the Lethbridge Hurricanes....... The North Stars finally reached double digits for points as they now have 10 points. They are 19 points out of a playoff spot in the Itech Conference.

Tonight's Three Stars:

* Dion Campbell - Melville Millionaires (2 goal performance to lead Mils to big divisional win over Klippers)
** Brent Ottmann - Nipawin Hawks (OT hero and three point night)
*** Jonathan Jobin - La Ronge Ice Wolves (solid outing allowing only one goal versus Weyburn)

Monday Night: Estevan @ Notre Dame

That's it for now. Got some sleep to catch up on. Power rankings should return tomorrow night.

- Brad M.