Another Article from Today's Leader Post!

Coaches can't fathom so many wins

Tim Switzer
The Leader-Post
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Just 973 more wins for Flin Flon Bombers head coach Mike Reagan and he will be right there with Dwight McMillan.
McMillan, the long-time head coach of the Weyburn Red Wings, is sitting on 999 wins in his Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League career, a number that his contemporaries have a tough time fathoming.
"It's just incredible to think about 1,000 wins," said Reagan, the 28-year-old first-year bench boss with the Bombers (26-20-1-2). "You go and do the math and you realize how many wins it takes per year to do that. It's a pretty remarkable feat."
McMillan, coincidentally, was 28 when he became the Red Wings head coach in 1972.
"Everybody has been joking around that that will be me in 35 years," Reagan said with a chuckle.
Most coaches, however, aren't thinking about eventually making it to 1,000 wins even for a second. Most won't be able to stay in one league long enough to reach that level. They may find more lucrative opportunities outside hockey or they may move up the coaching ranks to the major junior level or beyond.
With so many coaching changes these days in all levels of sport, it's nice just to get a few years in, said Estevan Bruins head coach Karry Biette.
"When you first get into it, no matter who you are or where you start, you're just trying to hang on with both hands and make it through the first couple years," said Biette. "It's an accomplishment that a handful of people in the history of junior hockey are going to achieve."
Look around the SJHL and only Larry Wintoneak of the Kindersley Klippers and Bob Beatty of the La Ronge Ice Wolves who have more than a decade of experience as a head coach in the SJHL. Both coaches started as head coaches in the mid 1990s and -- save for Wintoneak's two seasons in Ontario -- have been in the SJHL since.
"You're basically preparing for every game and if you worry about statistics, it takes away from that," said Beatty. "I'm sure Dwight wouldn't have been counting it down unless the league and the media were providing a lot of attention to it -- which I think is only common sense. It's a tremendous accomplishment."
Even Beatty and Wintoneak haven't be able to fully process McMillan's win total.
"Talking to him, he says, 'A win is a win. I don't know if it's my 700th or my 1,000th.' That is Mac, it's never been about him," Wintoneak said. "When you coach that long, you have to adapt. Kids have changed over the years, coaching styles have changed over the years."
McMillan's first shot at reaching 1,000 wins is to come Friday in La Ronge. Beatty said he doesn't mind being involved in a potentially historic game, but that doesn't mean he wants to see McMillan reach the milestone against the Ice Wolves.
"Dwight wants to win it not just because it his 1,000th win," said Beatty. "He wants to win it and so do I."
But will Beatty ever have the chance to reach the same total?
"I have absolutely no idea how many I have now," he said chuckling. "Part of the accomplishment is the patience and perseverance he's had in being able to stay with the team year after year. A tip of the hat to Dwight for that success.
"To do another 20 years? I don't think I'm going to make it."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

- Posted by Brad M.

From Today's Regina Leader Post!

Making the playoffs is good, but 1,000 wins -- priceless

Tim Switzer
The Leader-Post


Thursday, January 31, 2008



CREDIT: Joshua Sawka, The Leader-Post
Weyburn Red Wings head coach Dwight McMillan is one win shy of 1,000 with the Red Wings.

Today will be like any other day for Dwight McMillan.

The Weyburn Red Wings head coach expects the same will be said for Friday, Saturday and for the rest of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season.

He will get up in the morning, head to the rink and try to keep his team on the winning track as it heads toward the SJHL postseason.

But for many around McMillan and the Red Wings, these days are anything but typical and games the team plays will follow suit.

The next one the Red Wings win will be the 1,000th in McMillan's career with Weyburn.

"It's one of those MasterCard situations -- you can buy a lot of things, but can you ever put a true value on this?" said Red Wings general manager Ron Rumball.

Though Rumball has been with the Red Wings in one capacity or another since McMillan took the head-coaching job in 1972, the GM still marvels at what his friend has accomplished.

"A coach who has attained 1,000-win status with one team is about as few and far between as the come," said Rumball. "There may be other coaches that win 1,000 games -- and hopefully there will be -- but to do it with one franchise is really remarkable."

But as much as folks like Rumball will sing McMillan's praises, the head coach will never do the same.

He is the first to pass credit off to his family, to players, assistant coaches and boards of directors over the years for allowing him to get to the point where he is among a very select group.

It is believed the only coaches to accumulate 1,000 wins at one level of hockey are legendary NHL head coach Scott Bowman and equally legendary Ottawa 67s bench boss Brian Kilrea.

But through all his years of coaching, the only win that mattered to McMillan was the next one.

"As a coach, you're just trying to get ready for the next shift or the next game," said McMillan. "It doesn't matter if it's the 10th or the 1,000th, you're trying to win it. If I stopped and thought about it, I guess it would just mean that this franchise has been successful."

That has long been the style of the Lashburn product. He came to Weyburn to join the Red Wings as a player in their inaugural year in 1960. He eventually spent a little time in the minor pro leagues and had shots with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, but then got some good advice from a veteran player.

"He was coming down from the majors and said, 'If you're not going to play regularly with the top six and make good money, get out of here.' I was happy to get that," said McMillan, who retired in 2005 after 38 years at EnCana Energy. "I can't remember who he was but he had a wife, two kids and nice clothes. He said, 'This is all I own and I'm on my way down.' "

In 1966, McMillan married his wife, Diane, and started coaching Weyburn's junior B team. After seven seasons with that club, McMillan got the call to lead the Red Wings in 1972. Save for a few years in the early 1980s, he has been there ever since.

He and Diane raised two sons, Wade and Tyler, who played for the Red Wings and earned NCAA scholarships. Wade now lives in Franklin, Mass., while Tyler returned to Weyburn and is now an assistant coach to his dad.

His sons, like many other boys in and around Weyburn grew up wanting to play for McMillan. Kyle Haines, the Red Wings captain, moved to Weyburn when he was 13 and immediately understood what McMillan meant to young hockey players in the area.

"Coming through minor hockey, you hear a lot of stories and you see him on the ice and on the bench and someday you want to be there with him," said Haines. "He's an icon for the Weyburn Red Wings and he's a familiar face around town. Everyone knows him and he's well-respected around town."

Over the years, McMillan was named the SJHL coach-of-the-year three times, won six league titles and five Saskatchewan-Manitoba championships. He also led the Wings to national championships in 1984 and 2005 and has been an assistant coach for Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge the past two seasons.

The latest milestone on that resume -- win No. 1,000 -- could come as early as Friday night when the Wings visit the La Ronge Ice Wolves.

If that win comes Friday or in another game, most people in his life know exactly how McMillan will react.

"He'll probably celebrate just a win for the team," said Diane McMillan. "If you asked him right now, he'd probably have to ask, 'Where are we now? Nine hundred and ninety-what?' He's not that kind of person. Maybe the night of it would get him a little excited. But that's a personal (achievement). Its not as big as a win for his team."

The celebration may be quiet among the McMillan family and the Red Wings team, but it may expand within the city of Weyburn.

Mayor Debra Button, a lifelong Weyburn resident, said something so rare is a big deal for Weyburn and that McMillan represents everything that is good about the town.

"He coaches not just a team, but coaches men to turn into real gentlemen," said Button, whose husband, Greg, played for the Red Wings in the early 1980s. "The things that I hear about Dwight is the guys are not just good on the ice, but they're good ambassadors off the ice as well. Dwight turns boys into men and goes a step beyond just coaching."

While residents of Weyburn want to celebrate the 1,000th victory with McMillan, they may not get a chance to do so immediately. If the Wings lose on Friday, the team has another chance to get No. 1,000 on Saturday against the host Flin Flon Bombers. From there it is back home for a Tuesday game with the Melville Millionaires and one on Feb. 8 with the Estevan Bruins.

McMillan, however, hopes to have the big one over with well before the Red Wings return to Weyburn on Sunday.

"I'm not going to make a big deal out of it with the kids, I just want them to play the best the can," said McMillan. "Somebody can do something (to commemorate it) and that's great.

"But I feel it's just another game in the history of the Weyburn Red Wings."

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008

- Brad M.

Busy Wednesday Night in the SJHL!

It was a busy schedule tonight across the league as only the Weyburn Red Wings and Battlefords North Stars had the night off.

In Humboldt, Taylor Nelson has joined AJ Whiffen of the Weyburn Red Wings with his sixth shutout of the season, tying a SJHL single season record, as the Broncos downed the Melfort Mustangs 2-0. It was a tight game which saw the Broncos finally get the first goal at 1:33 of the third period with Steven Schroeder getting the goal from Matt Rintoul. The Broncos would add an empty netter from Laurent Benjamin with 12 seconds remaining assisted by Tanner Vandesype to seal the win. Nelson had 28 saves in his record tying effort. Ilia Ejov stopped 20 shots in the Melfort goal. Despite the close score, the game was fight filled and included a multi-fight situation that could lead to suspensions and or fines to the Broncos and Mustangs. The Broncos only need three more points to clinch first place in the Itech and four points to clinch first overall in the SJHL for regular season standings.

The Kindersley Klippers have moved back within five points of Sherwood Conference leading Weyburn after a come from behind overtime victory over the visiting Nipawin Hawks. Brett Leedahl scored twice for the Klippers, including the overtime winner. Justin Wilkinson also scored for the Klippers. Jordan Braid, Kirk Pearce, Ryan Sawka, Milo Miller, and Jonathan Redlick all added assists. Steve Mason scored both Nipawin goals as he now has four goals in his last two games. Taylor Thiessen, Blair Toms, Brent Ottmann and Torrie Dyck added assists for the Hawks. Rookie Matt Weninger who has been outplaying veteran Ryan Nieszner picked up the win for the Klippers as he made 30 saves. Derek Kleinsteuber stopped 27 of 30 shots faced in the Nipawin goal. The Hawks are firmly entrenched in fifth in the Itech and have clinched a playoff berth as they can no longer be caught by the Battlefords North Stars for the final spot.

In Yorkton, it was a potential survivor series matchup preview as the Estevan Bruins came away with a 3-2 shootout victory over the host Terriers. Niko Grose had the shootout winner for the Bruins and added an assist. Brennan Wrigley and Nick Colliton scored in regulation for the Bruins who also got assists from Payden Benning and Colton MacPherson. Derek Derkach and Derek Serdachny replied for the Terriers while Jordan Menke, Ken Petkau and Kirk Bycynski added assists. Karsten Felske made 30 saves for the win while Lynden Sammartino made 34 saves in the Terriers goal. The Bruins have opened up a six point lead on the fifth place Terriers and still are looking to break into the top three in the division. The Bruins are only four points back of third place Melville but the Millionaires do have two games in hand.

The Millionaires were hosting the cellar dwellar Notre Dame Hounds and scored early and often as they pounded the Hounds 9-2. Dion Campbell led the way for the Mils with three goals and an assist. Daniel Hope also added four points as he had a goal and three assists. Chris Shudo had a goal and two assists for the Millionaires. Levi Lind added three assists. Scott Hennings and Kale Dolinski each scored twice for Melville. Rylan Schwartz and Chris Bratina scored for the Hounds. Travis Bosch had the win as he made 33 saves. Mark Currie got the start for the Hounds stopping 22 of 27 shots in 37:00 before making way for Andre-Michel Guay who stopped 22 of 26 shots in the final 23 minutes of play. The Millionaires outshot the Hounds 53-35. The Hounds are 14 points out of the final playoff spot in the Sherwood with only 18 possible points left for them to obtain.

Finally it was a battle up north in Flin Flon tonight in what was a very important game for the Bombers as they hosted their number one rival - the La Ronge Ice Wolves. It appears the Ice Wolves want to finish in the top three in the Itech as they scored twice late in the third to get by the Bombers 3-2. With the win, the Ice Wolves have opened up a seven point lead over fourth place Flin Flon. Bruno - Pier Gosselin, Jarrid Dowhay and Brad Harding scored for La Ronge. Adam Moar and Jordie Johnston each had two assists for the Ice Wolves. Harley Garrioch and Dustyn Clegg scored for the Bombers. Cole Wilson, Dominic Martel, Dennis Kubat and David Linsley added assists. Jonathan Jobin made 33 saves for the win. Calvin Bartel only managed to stop 15 of 18 shots as he suffered the loss.

Tonight's Three Stars:

* Taylor Nelson - Humboldt Broncos (28 save performance but more importantly ties SJHL single season shutout record with his sixth shutout of the season which ties current Red Wing AJ Whiffen, former Red Wing Terry Denike and a number of others.
** Dion Campbell - Melville Millionaires (3 goals and an assist in big win over Notre Dame)
*** Brett Leedahl - Kindersley Klippers (2 goals including OT winner in win over Nipawin)

- Brad M.

Special visit from the 2007 Grey Cup Champs!

This morning the community of Weyburn got a big treat as members of the 2007 Grey Cup Champion Saskatchewan Roughriders brought down the Grey Cup for fans to get their picture with. After your picture you could also pick up some autographs from the Roughriders.

The Weyburn Chamber of Commerce and The Weyburn Red Wings helped put this event on and we hope everyone made it down to the Weyburn Colosseum to see the Cup and spend some time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as well as the Weyburn Red Wings.

- Troy K

Who am I?

It's time once again to guess the Red Wing.

All you have to do to win two tickets to any Weyburn Red Wing home game is tell us who this is?

If you know who it is all you have to do is email your answer to troy_kramm@yahoo.com

Good Luck.

- Troy K

Hawks Down Stars with late goal!

There was only one game on the schedule on this bitterly cold Saskatchewan night which saw the head coaching debut of Blair Atcheynum for the Battlefords North Stars.

Taylor Thiessen scored with 19 seconds remaining in regulation to spoil Atcheynum's debut as the Nipawin Hawks pulled out the 3-2 victory in North Battleford. Steve Mason added two goals for the Hawks who also got a pair of assists from Brent Ottmann. Thiessen, Torrie Dyck and Cody Wutzke also had assists for Nipawin. Shawn McNulty and Mitch Wall replied for the Stars who got assists from Richard Cameron, Alexandre Leclerc and Joel Budd. Derek Kleinsteuber picked up the win for the Hawks in goal while Adrien Lemay took the loss for the Stars.

- Brad M.

Doody, Linnell, Whiffen Take Weekly Honors!

SJHL FORWARD OF THE WEEK:

Scott Doody, Weyburn Red Wings

Scott had 5-goals and 4-assists in 3-games played last week. The native of Corner Brook, Newfoundland has found his game since being placed on a line with Erick Ruud and Eric Calibaba (coincidentally these two could definitely have been in the running for the weekly award as well).

SJHL DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK:

Scott Linnell, Kindersley Klippers

Linnell anchored the Klipper blueline with a goal and two assists in three games played.

SJHL GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK:

AJ Whiffen, Weyburn Red Wings

Whiffen turned away 66-of-67 shot to win both of his starts last week. The week included a 5-0 shutout win over the Flin Flon Bombers which saw the Red Wings rookie goaltender record his record-tying sixth shutout of the season. Whiffen looks to add to the total this coming weekend when the Wings play in La Ronge and Flin Flon.

- Brad M.

Clark Ousted in North Battleford

The Board of Directors of the Battlefords North Stars Hockey Club Inc. has relieved Head Coach and General Manager Gary Clark of his duties. Assistant Coach, Blair Atcheynum, will serve as interim Coach and General Manager until the completion of the hockey season. A permanent replacement will be hired during the off season.

Clark was in his second season as the head coach after replacing Blaine Sautner following the 2005-06 season. He replaced Glen Watson in August of 2006. Clark coached professionally in Germany prior to his hiring by the North Stars. He compliled a record of 40-54-6-8 in 108 games as the North Stars head coach. Best of luck to Gary in the future.

My opinion is that Blair Atcheynum will have the interim tag removed in the offseason and if not - he will likely not be back with the Stars.

- Brad M.

Wings Cash in Against Moneymen!

A big Sherwood conference battle was served up tonight at the Weyburn Colosseum and when the smoke cleared the Weyburn Red Wings skated away with a 5-1 win over the visiting Melville Millionaires.

The Millionaires actually got on the board first as Aaron Decorby scored as the Red Wings could not clear away the front of the net. Levi Lind and Scott Hennings assisted on the goal. Ironically, Decorby was not to be dressed for the game but replaced Daniel Hope who became sick prior to the game. The Wings would tie things up just under four minutes later on a good power play cycle that ended up with a Josh Bray slapshot beating Mils goaltender Joe Rodwell. Stephen Simms and Preston Shupe picked up assists on the power play marker. The Wings would then make use of a penalty kill situation as the dynamic duo of Scott Doody and Erick Ruud broke up ice. Ruud would get the original shot on a breakaway which was stopped by Rodwell but Scott Doody followed up the play and buried the loose rebound passed Rodwell to make it 2-1. Rhett Bly also assisted on the goal. The Wings would go up 3-1 at the 9:09 mark of the second period as they would again capitalize short-handed. This time it was Rhett Bly and Preston Shupe breaking out on a 2 on 1 with Bly feeding the beautiful pass to Shupe who deked out Rodwell for the goal. The Wings would go up 4-1 at the 6:39 mark of the third period as Torrey Lindsay would score into a wide open net on the power play. Shupe and Bray assisted on the goal. Erick Ruud would round out the scoring for the Red Wings with just over five minutes to play with Doody and Kyle Haines getting the assists. Ruud took the original shot through the legs of a Millionaire defenseman before jumping on the juicy rebound to seal the victory for the Wings. The line of Scott Doody (9 points), Erick Ruud (8 points) and Eric Calibaba (5 points) have combined for 22 points in their last three games. AJ Whiffen had another fine start as he made 32 saves to improve his record to 23-6-2-3 with a 2.23 GAA and a remarkable .933 saves percentage with six shutouts. Joe Rodwell made 33 saves in his second appearance as a Millionaire. New fan favorite Justin Crockatt had a pair of fights as he battled Michael Jordan and Curtis Beech. Mick Pawlyshyn also got into the fun as he had a spirited tilt with Matt Kinnunen of the Millionaires. The Red Wings are now at 30-12-2-5 for the season as they regain a seven point advantage over the second place Kindersley Klippers and have a commanding 11 point lead over the third place Millionaires. Dwight McMillan won game #999 tonight and goes for win #1000 on Friday night when the Wings travel to La Ronge to battle Bob Beatty's Ice Wolves.

Speaking of those Ice Wolves, they were also in action tonight as they downed the visiting Yorkton Terriers 5-3. This game was re-scheduled from Saturday night after the Terriers bus hit the ditch just south of La Ronge on Saturday morning as they were heading to La Ronge after their game in Melville on Friday night.
Jarrid Dowhay and Calvin Fiddler each scored twice to pace the Ice Wolves. Adam Moar also scored for the Wolves which stood up as the game winner. Riel Thomson and Jordie Johnston each had two assists with single helpers going to David Lawrence, Ken Neufeld, Bruno - Pier Gosselin, Dustin Stevenson, Brad Harding and Tyler Karst. Derek Serdachny had a goal and an assist for the Terriers. Kirk Bycynski and Greg Coburn also scored for the Terriers. Bryan Hull, Kyle Block and Kevin Stringfellow all added assists. Jonathan Jobin picked up the win for the Ice Wolves as he made 28 saves. Joel Danyluk started the game for the Terriers and allowed all five goals on 34 shots. Lynden Sammartino mopped up for the final fifteen minutes stopping all nine shots he faced. The Ice Wolves opened up a five point advantage over fourth place Flin Flon in the Itech with the win. It is starting to look like Humboldt, Melfort and La Ronge will finish 1-2-3 in the division leaving the Bombers and Nipawin Hawks to battle things out in the survivor series.

- Brad M.

Whiffen Ties SJHL Single Season Shutout Record as Wings Bomb Flin Flon!

The Weyburn Red Wings returned to the ice tonight as they welcomed the Flin Flon Bombers to town and the Wings were certainly not gracious hosts as they shutdown the high-powered Bombers offense 5-0. Rookie goaltender AJ Whiffen turned aside 34 Flin Flon shots as he recorded career shutout number six which tied a SJHL single season record shared by a few goaltenders including former Red Wing Terry Denike. With 10 games to play in the regular season it is conceivable that Whiffen could set the single season record this season.
It was a solid effort all around for the Wings as they have outscored their opponents 12-0 in the last two games. Erick Ruud had a big game for the Wings as he scored two first period goals to lead the team to victory. His linemates Scott Doody and Eric Calibaba assisted on both goals. Josh Bray picked up the old Gordie Howe hat trick as he had a goal, assist and a fighting major after battling Bombers star forward Dennis Kubat with just two seconds to play in the second period. Rhett Bly and Torrey Lindsay also scored for the Red Wings. Preston Shupe added two assists for the Wings who got single helpers from Stephen Simms, Kyle Haines and Adam Feniak. Justin Crockatt continues to endear himself to the Red Wing faithful as he had a spirited fight with the Bombers Cameron MacKinnon before almost getting in a scrap with Harley Garrioch which the linseman restrainted before they could dance at center ice. The Wings fired 32 shots at Bombers goaltender Carsen Chubak with Chubak stopping 27 of them. 977 fans went home happy as the Red Wings are now seven points up on second place Kindersley.

Elsewhere,

Yorkton 2 - Goals - Bryan Hull, Michael Trebish; Assists - Derek Serdachny, Ken Petkau, Hull, Greg Coburn
@
Melville 10 - Goals - Brad Johnston (3), Dion Campbell (2), Scott Hennings (2), Kale Dolinski, Daniel Hope, Jordan Wilson; Assists - Chris Shudo (3), Hope (2), Levi Lind (2), Dolinski, Bryant Dyke, Matt Kinnunen, Derek Edwards, Joe Rodwell, Hennings

Kindersley 4 - Goals - Travis Eggum, Milo Miller, Jeremy Beller, Brett Leedahl; Assists - Steven Turner (2), Kendall Holmes, Casey Rempel, Scott Linnell, Jonathan Redlick
@
Nipawin 5 (OT) - Goals - Brent Ottmann (3), Torrie Dyck, Steve Mason; Assists - Blair Toms (2), Dyck (2), Jordon Miller, Mason, Cody Wutzke, Taylor Thiessen

- Brad M.

Last minute goals were the story of the night in the SJHL

It took the Kindersley Klippers until the final minute of overtime to get the win over Jordie Johnston and the La Ronge Ice Wolves after tieing the game with one minute remaining in the third.

The Klippers found themselves down by a score of 5-2 after the first period and looked to be all but done as the Ice Wolves got another early goal in the second to make the score 6-2.

The tide then changed as the Klippers stormed back with four unanswered goals with the last one coming at under a minute to go in the third to tie it at six a piece and send the game to overtime. Jordan Braid of the Klippers scored at 4:03 of overtime to pick up the hat trick and the two points for the team to keep them in the race for first place in the Sherwood Conference.

The only other game in the SJHL tonight was a battle of the basement dwellers as the Battlefords Northstars traveled to Wilcox to face the Notre Dame Hounds.

Both teams traded goals throughout the night as Battlefords opened up the scoring in the first on a goal by Kassidy Collins. Notre Dame then countered in the second period as Rylan Schwartz scored to tie the game at one after two periods of play.

Battlefords again took the lead on a goal by Rick Cey at 13:09 of the third period. It looked like the Northstars had the game in hand until Thomas Williams of the Hounds scored with only three seconds to go to tie the game and send it to overtime where Brett Ferguson scored to win it for the Hounds

* The Weyburn Red Wings return to action Friday night as they take on the Flin Flon Bombers at the Colosseum. Come on out and enjoy the game. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

- Troy K

Red Wings face discipline for their rumble with the Northstars

Suspensions and Fines
January 23/08

Battlefords:
Player(s) Joel Budd, Kirk Moore, Mitch Wall are suspended for two (2) game(s)  for the following offense : participation in multiple fights. Suspension will include game(s) of January 23, 24  2008. Battlefords North Stars are fined $600 for participation in a multiple fight on Tuesday, January 22.

Weyburn:
Player(s) Michael Sieb, Shawn Courtney, Nick Needham are suspended for two (2) game(s)  for the following offense : participation in multiple fights. Suspension will include game(s) of January 25, 27 2008. Weyburn Red Wings are fined $600 for participation in a multiple fight o n Tuesday, January 22.

The Red Wings now prepare to face the Flin Flon Bombers on Friday and the Melville Millionaires without these players. That means we will see some lines get changed up and get a chance to see how the Wings handled this challenge.

So come cheer on your Weyburn Red Wings as head coach Dwight McMillan gets closer to his 1000th SJHL victory.

Red Wings face some falling stars, win 7-0 versus Battlefords

Well, the Red Wings started things off with a bang tonight versus the Battlefords Northstars, or maybe you would call it a boom, bang, kapow!

A line brawl started just two seconds into the game which really got the fans excited, Shawn Courtney especially got them pumped up as he did a little showboating to the crowd after pummeling his opponent (not sure who it was). It took a little while to sort out the penalties but after all was said and done Courtney, Needham and Seib all receive game misconducts.

As for the rest of the game, Weyburn grabbed a 3-0 lead after the first period on goals from Ruud, Calibaba and Doody who had one heck of a game and could have easily had a couple more during the night.

The scoring didn’t stop there. The Red Wings kept up the pace in the second period as Luke Johnson put a soft backhand past Northstars goalie Kerpan at 4:15 to up the lead to 4-0. Then it was back to the Scott Doody show as he scored three in a row during the remainder of the period to give the Red Wings a commanding 7-0 lead after the second.

The Wings continued to have their chances in the third period but Adrien Lemay who took over the goaltending duties for Kerpan in the third shut the door. The Red Wings kept hitting hard which helped Tanner Erickson keep the puck out of the net for the remainder of the game. The Red Wings defensive game helped Erickson capture the shutout as he got the start in place of AJ Whiffen who was given the rare night off.


Game highlights:
Scott Doody finished the game with 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist), Erick Ruud nabbed 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), Eric Calibaba with 3 points (1 goal 2 assists and a ton of energy all night long), Josh Bray 3 points (3 assists) and Shawn Courtney striking some fear into the Battlefords Northstars.

With the victory, Dwight now has three wins to go until 1000!!!


- Troy K

Haines and the boys ready for the Northstars

Troy Kramm: How was your second All Star game experience and what is the atmosphere like at an SJHL All Star Game?

Haines: Well everyone is there to have some fun and meet some new people. We all just have a good time and get a chance to make some new plays that we aren’t really able to try in the regular season.

TK: Did you enjoy having Bray, Lindsay and Nargang join you in Yorkton on this year’s All Star Team?

Haines: Yah it was fun to have some team-mates come along. It was fun trying to make some fancy plays to make each other look good.

TK: Is the loss versus Notre Dame still weighing on the teams shoulders or is it something you guys can use as motivation versus Battlefords tonight?

Haines: We are definitely going to use it as motivation. We had a ton of chances versus Notre Dame but we just couldn’t execute. We have polished up on some things during these last few days and are expecting to put plenty of pucks in the net tonight.

TK: What else can we expect to see from the Red Wings tonight when you take on the Northstars?

Haines: A lot of pressure, some hard checking and plenty of pucks on their net that we are going to bang home. We want to create plenty of chances all
night.

Buy your favorite Red Wing jersey!

Don't forget to bid on the your favorite Red Wings jersey. You have until Sunday, January 27 to put your bid on the Weyburn Red Wings third jersey. Yup you are bidding on those nice black ones. Good luck bidding.

You can make a bid by calling Tanya at the Red Wings office (306-842-2212) or emailing redwg2@sasktel.net

- Troy K

Who Am I Winner!

Congrats to Allysha Croissant who knew the mystery Red Wing player last week was Rhett Bly.

For knowing that, she wins two tickets to any Red Wings home game.

Thanks for all the entries. We had a record number of entries this week with 32 but unfortunately we don't have any pictures at the moment but we are still hoping for some to come in later.

- Troy K

Mustangs Rally to Defeat Stars!

It was a quiet night across the SJHL with only one game on the schedule which saw the Battlefords North Stars visiting the Melfort Mustangs. The Stars stormed out to a 3-0 lead after one before chasing rookie Jesse Trach from the net after he allowed 3 goals on only 8 shots. However, the Mustangs would storm back, including four goals in the third period, to double up the Stars 6-3. All Star Taylor Watt (pictured) had a huge night for Melfort as he scored twice and added three assists. Shane Gimas also had a good game with two goals and an assist while Clint Olson added three assists. Tommy Brown and Kyle Fraser also scored for the Mustangs. Riley Clark and Brady Gordon also had assists for Melfort. Joel Budd scored twice while Mitch Wall had a goal and an assist for the Stars. Shawn McNulty, Rick Cey and Kirk Moore also had assists for the North Stars. Jordan Washburn, a call up from the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos played the second and third for the Mustangs stopping all 17 shots he faced through two periods and picked up his first SJHL win. Ilia Ejov, who is participating in the all star game, was given the night off. Adrien Lemay faced 47 shots, stopping 41 for the Stars.

On a sad note today, the broadcasting world lost one of the greatest voices in all of sports as the legendary Don Wittman passed away. I grew up listening to Don Wittman call football and hockey games and he was always my favorite broadcaster. RIP Don.

For anyone interested in listening to the allstar game, it should be online on the GX94 Yorkton website. Best of luck to Dwight and staff, Torrey Lindsay, Brayden Nargang, Kyle Haines and Preston Shupe as they represent the organization at the game.

- Brad M.

Wings Lose Due to Controversial Call!

Although the Red Wings should have had the two points and a 2-1 victory, they will have to settle for one point and a 2-1 shootout loss to the Notre Dame Hounds on Friday night at the Colosseum. It appeared that Scott Doody had scored the go ahead goal for the Red Wings in the third period after a Shawn Courtney shot got through Hounds goaltender Mark Currie and bounced in off the shin pad of Scott Doody. Referee Sean Dufour actually signalled a goal before calling his linseman over to confer. Linseman Derek Nernberg told the referee that it was a kicking motion so the goal was disallowed by Dufour much to the dismay of the home crowd and head coach Dwight McMillan. McMillan received a gross misconduct from referee Dufour at the conclusion of the shootout after some water bottles found the Colosseum ice. Although I am sure Laury Ryan will discipline the Red Wings for the incident, when will the SJHL step up to the plate and discipline officials for poor outings much like the WHL as done in the last couple of seasons in incidents involving officials such as referee Adam Byblow and linseman Kelly Balaberda.

Back to the game..... Rhett Bly picked up his 14th goal of the season before being ejected in the second period for checking from behind. Josh Bray and Stephen Simms assisted on the goal. Kyle Ireland scored for the Hounds to start off the scoring in the game from Marc-Andre Nadeau and Rylan Schwartz. The team's would remain scoreless until Tommy Williams notched the shootout winner for the Hounds, the only goal scored in the shootout as he was the fourth Hounds shooter. Mark Currie picked up the win for the Hounds as he had a solid night stopping 33 of 34 shots and then all 4 shots he faced in the shootout. AJ Whiffen made 26 saves on 27 Notre Dame shots. The Red Wings are now off until Tuesday when they will host the Battlefords North Stars. The entire Red Wings coaching and support staff along with defenseman Kyle Haines and forwards Preston Shupe, Torrey Lindsay and Brayden Nargang are off to Yorkton for the weekend as they will participate in the SJHL all star game. AJ Whiffen should be joining them but enough said about that.

Elsewhere....

Ryan Sawka had a goal and three assists has he continues his climb up the SJHL's scoring leaders list as the Kindersley Klippers doubled up the Estevan Bruins 4-2 in Kindersley. Brett Leedahl added a goal and two assists while Jonathan Redlick had a goal and an assist for the Klippers. Kirk Pearce had the other Kindersley goal. Niko Grose and Payden Benning scored for the Bruins. Matt Weninger appears to be taking over for Ryan Nieszner as of late as he made 28 saves for the win. Karsten Felske stopped 33 Kindersley shots at the other end. The Klippers are now six points back of the Red Wings in the battle for first in the Sherwood.

All star weekend officially kicked off in Yorkton as the Terriers played host to the arch-rival Melville Millionaires but the Mils came out on top with a 4-2 win. Scott Hennings scored twice to lead the way for Melville while Chris Shudo and Aaron Decorby added singles. Daniel Hope added two assists for the Millionaires. Derek Serdachny scored both Yorkton goals. Bryan Hull added two assists for the Terriers. Travis Bosch, who will get a bulk of the work down the stretch due to an injury to Kyle Cantlon, made 30 saves for the win. Lynden Sammartino had a rough outing allowing 4 goals on only 14 shots in just over 30 minutes of play. Joel Danyluk came in to the game after that stopping all 10 shots he faced.

It was Taylor Thiessen night in Nipawin as the Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period in large part due to Thiessen who had a goal and three assists in the first frame. Keldon Sanderson, Dean Prpick, Matt Schneider and Brent Ottmann also scored for Nipawin. Ottmann, Trent Rumpel, Cody Wutzke, Steve Mason, Jordon Miller and Blair Toms all added assists for Nipawin. Ricky Cey spoiled the shutout bid for Derek Kleinsteuber as he scored a short-handed goal late in the third period. Kleinsteuber would end up with 33 saves on the night for the win. The Hawks fired 50 shots at the Stars goaltenders, including 23 at Ryan Kerpan in the first period. Kerpan was pulled after allowing four goals on the 23 shots. Adrien Lemay went the rest of the way stopping 26 of 27 shots in 40 minutes of work.

And finally it was a battle in Flin Flon as the Bombers welcomed the Humboldt Broncos to town. The Broncos managed to score five goals on a measly 14 shots as they won 5-3. Jordan Schindel scored twice and added an assist to pace the Broncos. Brady Wacker added a goal and an assist while goals also went to Shawn Hunter and Edward Gale. Matthew Rintoul had three assists for the Broncos. Reid MacLeod and Dennis Kubat each had a goal and an assist to lead the Bombers. Cole Wilson had the other Flin Flon marker. All star Myles Masse added two assists for the Bombers. Taylor Nelson picked up the win for Humboldt as he made 23 saves. Carsen Chubak allowed three goals on only 8 shots in just over a period of play. Calvin Bartel would allow 2 goals in six shots over the remaining two periods as the Bombers did keep the Broncos shots at a very low total.

Tonights SJHL Three Stars:

1. Taylor Thiessen - Nipawin Hawks (4 point night)
2. Ryan Sawka - Kindersley Klippers ( goal and three assists for Klippers leading scorer.
3. Jordan Schindel - Humboldt Broncos (Broncos leading scorer had three point night and a fight to boot)

- Brad M.

Wings around the community!

Craig Cornelson, Torrey Lindsay, Andrew Perrault and Luke Johnson spent yesterday morning helping students at Haig Elementary School with some projects before spending some time playing floor hockey with the kids.

Here are a few pictures from the morning. A full set of pictures will be posted shortly.

* Also, sorry about the lack of posts last night. Brad was busy with school work and my internet was down.

- Troy K

What's up with the Colosseum?

* click the pictures to look at the latest drawings for the Colosseum renovations. These are not finalized just the newest ones presented to City Council.


City Council spoke briefly last night on the renovations that are planned for the Colosseum this spring. I thought I would fill some people in with where things stand at the moment. On Friday, January 4, 2008 Facilities Maintenence Manager Button,
Manager of Community Development Mulhall, Director Bourassa, Councillor Michel and various consultants met for a final consultation before proceeding to tender drawings for the Colosseum.

Tender drawings should be finalized by March 1, 2008, striving for Council consideration on March 24. Tender will be split into two prices - Phase 3 South Side and Phase 4 Colosseum Lobby with the possibility of both proceeding. The estimated completion date for both phases is December 2008.

The biggest change that I heard was the fact that it has been suggested that they demolish the current lobby rather than retrofit it. The report estimated that it would take approximately one month less to start from scratch and build a new lobby shell along with the proposed new additions on all three sides.

* The following are words from Bearden Engineering Consultants Ltd. regarding the existing front lobby shell for the Weyburn Colosseum. After our meeting last Friday on January 4 we had the opportunity to look more closely at the existing lobby roof structure. We then realized that the existing sloped glu-lam wood beams which support the 2 x 12 wood purlins at 5 ft. on centre, in turn support the wood deck and are all not suitable for reuse very practically due to the fact that;

1) The roof wood beams and whole roof system slopes from the west to the east 8” (drops 8” to the east).

2) The wood roof deck is also under-strength when the space above would be converted into a floor with a uniform live load of 100 psf.

3) The wood 2 x 12 purlins at 5’ on centre are also under-strength for supporting the proposed floor live load of 100 psf.

4) The glu-lam beams are also under-strength and would require new centre steel columns and new footings.

5) The entire lobby roof system is also of combustible construction which is not suitable for supporting the proposed new construction above which is all to be of non-combustible construction according to the National Building Code 2005.

Given the fact that we are now proposing to build new additions on all sides and of non-combustible construction. ie. on the south side, the east side and also the north side of this lobby it is now apparent that re-using the existing sloped, under-strength wood roof system is not advisable and not practical.

- By Troy Kramm

Simms awarded for a heck of a week!

* Courtesy of sjhl.ca

Tuesday, January 15, 2008


SJHL FORWARD OF THE WEEK
Winner: Matt Sawa, Kindersley Klippers
Highlights: Sawa tore up the SJHL last week with 4-goals and 6-assists in 3-games played and now has 15-goals and 26-assists in 41-games overall. The Regina SK product did the bulk of his damage against the Weyburn Red Wings, scoring a goal and five assists on Friday night as his team lit up the Wings for ten goals overall. Sawa also had a goal and an assist on Sunday versus Weyburn. He kicked off the week with a two goal effort in Yorkton.
Runners-up: Kirk Pearce, Kindersley; Taylor Watt, Melfort; Matt Kirzinger, Humboldt; Rylan Schwartz, Notre Dame; Kevin Stringfellow, Yorkton.

SJHL DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Winner: Stephen Simms, Weyburn Red Wings
Highlights: Simms is one of the most productive offensive blueliners in the league and he delivered his calling card last week with three goals and three assists in four games. He scored once and set up two others in a win over Kindersley on Sunday and also had a two point performance in a low scoring game against Melfort last Tuesday. Simms now has 8-goals and 24-assists in 45-games.
Runners-up: Matthew Rintoul, Humboldt; Harley Garrioch, Flin Flon; Brady Gordon, Melfort; Jock Sutter, Yorkton; Tommy Brown, Melfort.

SJHL GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Winner: Ilia Ejov, Melfort Mustangs
Highlights: Ejov started all four games for the Mustangs last week and he went 3-0-and-1 with a 1.00-
GAA and .962-SPCT as he kicked out 100 of 104 shots overall. He ended the week with a 27-save shutout against the Nipawin Hawks on Saturday night. And, in the game his club lost, Ejov still only allowed two goals. For the season, Ejov is making a case for Goaltender of the Year honors and he’s on track to join Taylor Nelson and set a new SJHL standard for lowest GAA (current record is 2.25 set by Weyburn’s Russ Monette). Ejov is 22-4-2-1, 2.12, .920.
Runners-up: Travis Bosch, Melville; Joel Danyluk & Lynden Sammartino, Yorkton; Taylor Nelson, Humboldt.

- posted by Troy Kramm

Who am I?

Let's get this underway. All you have to do to win two free tickets to any Weyburn Red Wing home game is name this Red Wing player.

If you think you know who this Weyburn Red Wing is then send you answer to troy_kramm@yahoo.com

Each correct answer will be saved and entered into a draw at the end of the week for those tickets.

Best of luck.

**** Also I would just like to put a request out to any parents who have pictures of any Weyburn Red Wing player when they were younger for our contest as this is the last one we have received. If you have pictures you would like to submit you can contact Tanya at the Red Wing office at 842-2212, or just email her at redwg2@sasktel.net.

**** Pictures do not have to be in digital format, we will scan them if you bring pictures in

- Troy K

Power Rankings (for the week ended Jan. 13)

Again not a lot of movement this week as the top teams for the most part won a majority of their games and the bottom teams doing the usual and losing.

1. Humboldt Broncos (35-8-0-1) LR: 1

The Broncos have won 15 games in a row as they continue to be unstoppable. The one team that has played tight games with the Broncos as of late is the La Ronge Ice Wolves but the Broncos have still found a way to pull out those games as well. The Broncos got offensive contributions as usual from everywhere in the lineup but to note a few that had good weeks - Matt Kirzinger, Edward Gale, Tanner Vandesype and Dane Lindskog. The Broncos look to continue the streak this week as they host the North Stars on Tuesday night before heading to La Ronge and Flin Flon for games Thursday and Friday respectively. The Broncos will have six players competing in the All Star game in Yorkton on Sunday. They are goaltender Taylor Nelson, defenseman Tanner Vandesype, Russ Nielsen and Matt Rintoul and forwards Jordan Schindel and Laurent Benjamin along with the coaching staff led by Dean Brockman.

2. Melfort Mustangs (30-12-2-1) LR: 3

The Mustangs get the slight edge over the Red Wings for #2 this week due to the Wings 10-1 loss on Friday night. The Mustangs picked up seven out of eight points this week as they won both ends of a home and home with Nipawin, defeated Estevan and lost in overtime to Weyburn. Taylor Watt continues to post big offensive numbers for the Mustangs who get plenty of offense from the back end with guys like Riley Clark, Brady Gordon and Tommy Brown providing the offense. Ilia Ejov has been outstanding and has to be considered one of the front-runners for the SJHL goaltender of the year. The Mustangs host Melville and Battlefords this week. Ejov, Clark and Watt will represent the Mustangs at the all star game this weekend.

3. Weyburn Red Wings (27-12-2-4) LR: 3

Overall the Wings had a good week with victories over the Mustangs, North Stars and Klippers. The 10-1 loss to Kindersley on Friday night did sting a bit but this team ends the weekend with a wider point gap between them and the competition from when the weekend started to that is all that really matters. The line of Torrey Lindsay, Rhett Bly and Preston Shupe had a superb road trip this weekend as did newcomer Erick Ruud and defenseman Stephen Simms. The Red Wings will have a much lighter schedule this week as their only game is a home date Friday night versus the Notre Dame Hounds. The Wings will send Dwight McMillan and the entire coaching staff and support crew to the all star game along with defenseman Kyle Haines and forwards Torrey Lindsay, Preston Shupe and Brayden Nargang.

4. La Ronge Ice Wolves (24-16-2-3) LW: 4

The Ice Wolves had a light schedule as their only game was a 2-1 loss to Humboldt. Jonathan Jobin was sensational in the game but the Ice Wolves had trouble getting shots through on Broncos goaltender Taylor Nelson. Jordie Johnston is currently the SJHL's leading scorer while Jarrid Dowhay is also in the top five scorers. The Ice Wolves have a tough schedule this week as they travel to Flin Flon on Tuesday night and then host Humboldt on Friday. The Ice Wolves top line of Johnston, Dowhay and Bruno-Pier Gosselin will represent them at the all star game.

5. Melville Millionaires (25-16-2-0) LR: 6

Overall it was not a bad week for the Millionaires as they went 2-1. They posted wins over the North Stars and Bruins while losing to the Bombers. Dion Campbell and Brad Johnston both had good weeks offensively for the Mils playing alongside Scott Hennings. The Millionaires added some depth on deadline day acquiring Chris Shudo from the Westside Warriors of the BCHL. Melville has a good test this week as they play three road games - in Nipawin, Melfort and Yorkton. Derek Edwards will start for the Sherwood Conference all stars on defense. Also joining Edwards at the all star game will be Dion Campbell and Kale Dolinski.

6. Kindersley Klippers (25-17-0-2) LR: 5

It was a mixed bag of results this week for Kindersley as they had the huge win over the Red Wings but lost to Weyburn on Sunday night and took a tough loss to Yorkton earlier in the week. The Klippers had a lot of players pad their stats offensively this week. Some of them included Brett Leedahl, Matt Sawa, Kirk Pearce and newcomer Jordan Braid. The one issue heading down the stretch for the Klippers may be the play of goaltender Ryan Nieszner who has been very inconsistent this season. Matt Weninger may see more time if Nieszner continues to struggle. The Klippers look to get back in the race for first this week as they host Estevan twice (Wednesday and Friday night). The Klippers top line of Ryan Sawka, Brett Leedahl and Johnathan Redlick will comprise the starting forward line for the all star game on Sunday afternoon. They will be joined by Nieszner and defenseman Scott Linnell at the game in Yorkton.

7. Flin Flon Bombers (25-16-1-1) LR: 7

The Bombers also had a mixed bag of results this week as they won a big game in Melville but then lost the following two nights in Yorkton and then Humboldt. The big three for Flin Flon have slowed down a little from their early season pace but Dennis Kubat did have a good week offensively for Flin Flon. The Bombers addressed a need with veteran additions to the defense corps with the additions of Matt Restoule from the North Stars and Darcy Holfeld from the AJHL (a former Kindersley Klipper). The Bombers host La Ronge and Humboldt this weekend which is a good chance to prove to those two teams that they mean business come playoff time. The Bombers will be represented in Yorkton by forwards Kubat, Reid MacLeod and Pierre-Luc Boucher along with defenseman Myles Masse.

8. Yorkton Terriers (21-18-2-3) LW: 9

I must admit I considered moving the Terriers even higher in the rankings this week and probably would have if they defeated Estevan on Sunday night. However, for the time being I could not justify ranking them higher than the teams ahead of them. Kudos to Ed Zawatsky and crew for going 3-1 for the week including a couple of tough wins over Kindersley and Flin Flon. The Terriers got good contributions from the likes of Derek Serdachny, Bryan Hull and Kevin Stringfellow this past week. Lynden Sammartino and Joel Danyluk both were respectable in the games they played this past week. The Terriers look to improve on their position this week as they have home games with Notre Dame and Melville. If the Terriers can go 2-0, they have a good shot of challenging for the top three spots in the Sherwood which eliminates having to play in the Survivor Series. The all star game host team will be represented by Sherwood conference starting goaltender Lynden Sammartino and defensemen Michael Trebish and Jordan Pawelec.

9. Estevan Bruins (20-21-2-2) LW: 8

The Bruins finally stopped their skid on Sunday night with a 4-2 win over the Terriers. They have not had a good record since Christmas and stayed relatively quiet at the deadline. They welcomed Nick Colliton back to the fold and brought in a defenseman from the AJHL. They shipped out forwards Tyler Murray and Trent Rumpel. Kealin Wong continues to be the Bruins best player on most nights. The Bruins look to gain ground on the rest of the Sherwood Conference this week but it will not be easy as they head out on a road trip that sees them in Kindersley Wednesday, North Battleford Thursday and back in Kindersley on Friday. The Bruins will be represented in the all star game by starting defenseman Kealin Wong and forwards Kyle Stroh, Payden Benning and Kyle Ermel.

10. Nipawin Hawks (14-24-1-4) LW: 10

The Hawks had a bad week going 0-4 but for the time being I will not drop them below Notre Dame due to their loss to the North Stars. The four losses included two losses to Melfort and losses to Notre Dame and Humboldt. Some good news for the Hawks was that forward Brent Ottmann elected to stay with the team rather then report to the WHL when his rights were traded from the Prince Albert Raiders to the Kelowna Rockets. The WHL rescinded the trade after Ottmann made it be known he would be staying put in Nipawin. The Hawks look to snap the slide this week as they have home games versus Melville and Battlefords.

11. Notre Dame Hounds (13-29-1-1) LW: 11

The positive is the Hounds got three out of a four possible points this past week. The problem is the team they lost that other point to was the only team ranked lower than them - the North Stars. Rylan Schwartz and Kyle Ireland had big offensive weeks for the Hounds. Mark Currie was also fairly strong between the pipes. The Hounds have a chance to play spoiler this week as they play division rivals Yorkton and Weyburn. The Hounds lone representative in the all star game will be rookie Rylan Schwartz.

12. Battlefords North Stars (5-33-2-3) LW: 12

The Stars had a tough start to the week as they were shutout twice in two nights in Melville and Yorkton. They then won a shootout over Notre Dame on Friday before falling on home ice to Weyburn on Saturday. The young team has picked up their play as of late - particularly Shawn McNulty, Colton Graf and Joel Budd to name a few. The Stars have tough road games in Humboldt and Melfort this week as well as a home date against Estevan. McNulty will represent the Stars in Yorkton at the all star game.

That's all for now. Hope everyone has a great week!

- Brad M.

Wings Hang on for 6-5 Victory over Klippers!

The Weyburn Red Wings ended up the road trip on a positive note as they shaded the Kindersley Klippers 6-5. It was a much different Red Wing effort from the team that lost 10-1 on Friday night. Despite some poor officiating (Kindersley had 11 power plays many of which were questionable versus only three opportunities for the Wings), the Wings were able to hold on to beat both the Klippers and the official.

Torrey Lindsay picked up his 16th of the season at the 11:14 mark of the first from Rhett Bly and Stephen Simms (pictured left). The Red Wings would take advantage on one of their few power play opportunities in the second period as Josh Bray scored from Simms and Bly. This would lead to Klippers head coach Larry Wintoneak pulling starting goaltender Matt Weninger in favor of Ryan Nieszner as Weninger allowed 2 goals on 11 shots. The Klippers would reply just over two minutes later as Steven Turner would cut the lead to 2-1 from Justin Wilkinson and Brett Leedahl. Simms would reply a 1:08 later with his eighth of the season from Lindsay and Bly. The Klippers would storm back late in the second with goals from Jonathan Redlick at 17:50 from Leedahl and Ryan Sawka and then Jeremy Beller at 19:21 from Casey Rempel and Milo Miller. However the Wings would not hang their heads for long as Scott Doody took a feed from Brayden Nargang and scored just six seconds after Beller to make the score 4-3 Weyburn after two period of play. The second period also saw a scrap which saw Shawn Courtney absolutely throttle Justin Wilkinson. The Wings took advantage on one of the numerous short-handed situations they were in on this night as Erick Ruud would put the Wings up by two with an absolutely beautiful goal as called by play by play man Kevin Smith. This would be Ruud's first SJHL goal. Nargang picked up the assist on the goal. Nieszner would then get the hook as the Klippers returned to Weninger between the pipes. Later in the third with just under eight minutes to play, Shawn Courtney was pulled down on a breakaway chance after stepping out of the penalty box and was awarded a penalty shot. Courtney, not known for his goal scoring prowess, was able to beat Weninger to make it 6-3. This goal would prove to be huge as it stood up as the game winner. The Klippers cut the lead to 2 with a power play goal by Redlick, his second of the night, with 4:03 to play. Leedahl and Matt Sawa would assist on the goal. The Klippers then made things very interesting with just under two minutes later as Sawa would cut the lead to one. Kirk Pearce and Sawka would assist on the goal. AJ Whiffen may have allowed five goals tonight but was definitely very important, in the third period especially, as he was under siege. Whiffen would end the night with 37 saves. Ryan Nieszner, a Sherwood Conference all star who has a GAA of 3.49 and a save percentage of only .894, allowed 3 goals on only 10 shots. Matt Weninger stopped 12 of 15 shots he faced on the night. Congratulations to the guys for finishing the weekend with four out of six points and overcoming a tough loss on Friday night.

Elsewhere tonight, the Yorkton Terriers saw their winning streak come to and end tonight as the Estevan Bruins came from behind to beat the Terriers 4-2 in Estevan. The Terriers led 2-1 after two period but the Bruins poured it on in the third period to pick up their first win since before Christmas. Liam Brennan scored twice for the Bruins who also got goals from Payden Benning and Kealin Wong (pictured). Kyle Stroh and Brody Haygarth each picked up two assists for the Bruins. Jordan Menke and Cody Zubko had the Terriers' goals. Karsten Felske got the start again tonight for the Bruins as he made 27 saves. Joel Danyluk gave Lynden Sammartino the night off as he made 34 saves in the Yorkton goal. The Terriers lead over the Bruins for fourth in the Sherwood drops to three points with the loss.

In Humboldt, the Flin Flon Bombers were hoping that their recent defensive additions would help lead them over the Broncos but came up short in a 5-3 loss to the SJHL's hottest team. Matthew Kirzinger (pictured) had a huge night for the Broncos as he picked up a goal while assisting on three others. Dane Lindskog added a goal and two assists while Tanner Vandesype had a goal and an assist for the Broncos. Eddie Gale and Jordan Schindel also scored for Humboldt. Myles Masse, Dennis Kubat and Cameron MacKinnon replied for Flin Flon. Taylor Nelson had 14 saves on the night for the win. Calvin Bartel gave up five goals on 30 shots to take the loss.

Tonight's SJHL Three Stars:

1. Matthew Kirzinger - Humboldt Broncos (1 goal, 3 assists in win over Flin Flon)
2. Stephen Simms - Weyburn Red Wings (Red Wing d-man continues hot play as of late with three point night)
3. Rhett Bly - Weyburn Red Wings - (just another multi-point night for the super rookie as he picks up three assists)

Wings get a well deserved break before they return to the ice Friday night when the Notre Dame Hounds come to town. That will be all the Wings have on the schedule this week as the league breaks for the all star break next weekend.

One other thought - I see the SJHL in their infinite wisdom has appointed Jeremy Shaw as the referee for the all star game on Sunday. I wonder how many phantom calls the Sherwood Conference all stars will receive as Shaw clearly has something against Dwight McMillan and the Weyburn Red Wings organization. Luckilly, we have not had to deal with this arrogant official this season yet and I hope we do not have to see him come playoff time.

Who should have been appointed? Well I guess everyone has an opinion, but in my mind the SJHL's best referees this season have been (My Top 5 - can't wait for the debate)

1. Keith Salamon - I have not left the rink unhappy with any of his performances and have not heard complaints about him from other teams either.
2. Nathan Wieler - I know some Red Wing fans (myself included) were unhappy with the non-call on the Riley Daulby hit when Wieler was last here but overall I think Wieler is one of the best in the business. Not only in our league but also at the WHL level.
3. Cam Kuffner - A year ago everyone would have laughed at me but I really have seen Kuffner grow leaps and bounds as an official from when he first started which is all you can ask for. Any games I have seen him do this year have been called fairly.
4. Chris Crich - We do not see him very often down in Weyburn but when we do, I feel he is very consistent and lets the teams play.
5. Keith MacKintosh - I have personally not seen Keith do a game this year but his past reputation gets him on the list.

- Brad M.

Wings Rebound With Win!

I did not get a chance to listen to the game tonight as I was in Regina for the Pats-Swift Current Broncos game so I will not be able to provide any insight other than to what is on the scoresheet.

Torrey Lindsay led the way for the Wings tonight as he had 2 goals and an assist. Stephen Simms and Kyle Haines (empty netter also scored. Rhett Bly and Preston Shupe each had two assists for the Wings with Mick Pawlyshyn also picking up an assist. Nickolaus Dvorak scored late in the third to spoil the shutout bid for AJ Whiffen. Rick Cey and Kirk Moore assisted on the lone Stars goal. Whiffen made 31 saves for the win. Ryan Kerpan played a strong game for the Stars making 35 saves. The Wings now lead both Kindersley and Melville by six points in the Sherwood. A reminder that the Wings are back in action tomorrow night with a 6:00 game back in Kindersley.

Quick Rundown on other games tonight:

Flin Flon 1 - Goal: Dennis Kubat
@
Yorkton 3 - Goals: Jock Sutter, Kevin Stringfellow, Bryan Hull
Assists: Kyle Block, Travis Coghill, Logan Dew, Jordan Pawelec, Lynden Sammartino

Winning Goaltender: Sammartino (32/33)
Losing Goaltender: Carsen Chubak (24/26)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Melville 4 - Goals: Brad Johnston (2), Aaron Decorby, Kale Dolinski
Assists: Derek Edwards (2), Dion Campbell (2), Matt Kinnunen, Michael Jordan, Kirk Mastad, Chris Shudo
@
Estevan 3 - Goals: Riley Tetreault, Payden Benning, Kyle Stroh Assists: Carson MacPherson, Kealin Wong, Stroh, Brody Haygarth, Chad Filteau

Winning Goaltender: Travis Bosch (35/38)
Losing Goaltender: Karsten Felske (31/35)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Melfort 8 - Landon Hiebert (2), Harrison Tribble, Tommy Brown, Taylor Watt, Nick Kalnicki, Brady Gordon, Tanner Exner
Assists: Shane Gimas (3), Watt (2), Kalnicki, Clint Olson, Brown, Exner, Riley Clark, Matt Hill, Hiebert, Cam Oliphant, Brady Gordon.

Winning goaltender - Ilia Ejov (27/27)
Losing goaltender - Daniel DiCamillo (32/40)

- Brad M.

Dwight, disappointed with the evening's performance

I gave Dwight a call this afternoon to get some comments following the Red Wings 10-1 beating last night. Here is what he had to say.

TK: What were some of the things that went wrong last night versus Kindersley?

McMillan: We started out OK but then they got a couple early goals on the powerplay and then we came out flat for the rest of the game. We didn't have a good enough effort to even compete with their team last night.

TK: What are you going to do different for tonight's game versus Battlefords?

McMillan: I'm not going to do anything different, I just hope the boys do things a little differently. They have to bring some more work ethic if they want to win this game. They better be prepared to play a more physical game and control the puck better if they want to win.

TK: You get a chance to play Kindersley again on Sunday, are you looking forward to playing them so soon for a chance to redeem yourself?

McMillan: Yah at least it should be fresh in our minds that they booted us around all night on Friday.

Klippers give "Ruud" welcome to Wings!

The Weyburn Red Wings welcomed one of the new additions to the lineup tonight as Erick Ruud jumped on the bus and headed into Kindersley with the Wings after flying in. Unfortunately the Wings were handed one of their worst losses in recent memory as the Kindersley Klippers annihilated the Wings 10-1.

Jordan Braid, in his first game as a Klipper after joining the team from the WHL's Saskatoon Blades yesterday got the hat trick and added an assist. Kirk Pearce scored twice and assisted on three Klippers goals. Matt Sawa had a big six point night as he had a goal and five assists. Brett Leedahl picked up a goal and three assists. Ryan Sawka added 2 goals and an assist. Casey Rempel also had a goal for Kindersley. Blueliners Scott Linnell and Steven Turner each added two assists. The Red Wings lone goal was scored by Eric Calibaba with assists going to Scott Doody and Mick Pawlyshyn. According to play by play man Kevin Smith, Erick Ruud had an assist in his Red Wing debut which means he would take that point over Doody or Pawlyshyn but no confirmation on that at the time of writing (not that it really matters in a 10-1 loss). Matt Weninger made the start for the Klippers and stopped 29 of 30 shots. AJ Whiffen started for the Wings and allowed three goals on 18 shots in the first period. He started the second period but was pulled after allowing a goal on the first shot he faced in the second period. Tanner Erickson would come in for the rest of the game and stopped 25 of 31 shots he faced. Although I will not be as generous as Kevin Smith and give a game star to one of the Red Wings, I will say one positive that can come from this game is that the guys get another kick at the Klippers in just two sleeps. Hopefully the Wings will be ready for that one. One note - Justin Crockatt should make his Red Wing debut tomorrow night in the Battlefords as he is expected to meet the team in North Battleford. One other positive from tonight was that the Red Wings won the fights. Kudos to Michael Seib, Shawn Courtney and Luke Johnson although winning fights I know does not give you two points in the standings. I have nothing more to say about this disastrous game. File the tape in the garbage and lets move on.

The Red Wings did get some help tonight from the Flin Flon Bombers as they downed the Melville Millionaires 5-2 in Melville. Mike Reagan and the Bombers will have to be happy as they won a road game in a building that is tough to win in when you are the visitor. Pierre-Luc Boucher scored twice and had an assist to lead the way for the Bombers. Dominic Martel, Cole Wilson and Barrett Penner also scored for the Bombers. David Dykstra, Mitch Dougall, Michael Young, Myles Masse and Scott Day all added assists for the Bombers. Kale Dolinski had a goal and an assist for Melville. Scott Hennings also scored for the Millionaires who got a pair of assists from Brad Johnston as well as a helper from Derek Edwards. Calvin Bartel got the win for Flin Flon as he made 17 saves. Kyle Cantlon was much busier stopping 36 of 40 shots fired his way. The Millionaires fall to third in the Sherwood with Kindersley's win tonight. The Bombers move within a point of the third place La Ronge Ice Wovles in the Itech and have four games in hand.

Speaking of those Ice Wolves, they had another battle on their hands tonight as they battled the Humboldt Broncos. For the second consecutive meeting between the two clubs, the Broncos would pull out the 2-1 victory. Matt Kirzinger got the Broncos on the board at the 5:20 mark of the second period with assists going to Scott Schroeder and Shawn Hunter. The score would remain 1-0 until the 16:51 mark of the third as sniper Jordie Johnston picked up his 32nd goal of the season from Ken Neufeld short-handed. However, just 27 seconds later, the Broncos would regain their lead as Tanner Vandesype got the game winner from Matt Rintoul and Jordan Schindel. Taylor Nelson was not overly busy but stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced. Jonathan Jobin takes the loss despite only allowing two goals on 27 shots.

It was also a slow scoring affair in Melfort as the Mustangs welcomed the Nipawin Hawks to town. Tommy Brown got the Stangs on the board just 37 seconds into the second from Taylor Watt and Brady Gordon on the power play. The Mustangs would go up 2-0 just over four minutes later on yet another power play. Clint Olson got the goal from Watt and Nick Kalnicki. It appeared that Ilia Ejov would get the shutout until the Hawks spoiled the bid with just six seconds left to play. Torrie Dyck (who else) got the goal from Brent Ottmann and Jordon Miller. Ejov stopped 20 shots for the win while Hawks goaltender Dan DiCamillo made 27 stops for his club.

It was a battle of cellar dwellars in North Battleford tonight and it was a big night for the Stars as they overcame a 4-2 deficit to down the Notre Dame Hounds 5-4 in a shootout. Colton Graf scored twice for the Stars while also picking up a goal in the shootout. Defenseman Kirk Moore had a goal and two assists for the Stars while Nickolaus Dvorak added a goal and an assist. Shawn McNulty had two assists for the Stars. Joel Budd and Brody Malek also had single helpers.

Rylan Schwartz had a hat trick to lead the way for the Hounds. Roy Farrer had the other Notre Dame goal. Kyle Ireland added three assists for the Hounds with single helpers going to Travis Montgomery, Alex Abramov, Blayne Stevenson and Andrew Bzdel. Adrien Lemay got the win for the Stars as he made 24 saves. Mark Currie took the shootout loss as he stopped 35 of 39 shots before allowing shootout goals to Graf and Jesse Lebreton.

Tonights Three Stars:

1. Matt Sawa - Kindersley Klippers (1 goal, 5 assists for Klippers captain)
2. Colton Graf - Battlefords North Stars (2 goals and shootout clincher for the Stars young forward.)
3. Jonathan Braid - Kindersley Klippers (3 goals, 1 assist not a bad SJHL debut for Mr. Braid.)

Reminder - Wings are in the Battlefords tomorrow night and should be an angry and hungry crew. They can't afford another night off. Do not let the Stars record fool you, they have some good young players that can bite you in the rear if you are not on your game for a full sixty.

Have a good night everyone!

- Brad M.

Happy Birthday Dwight!

I got word from Ed Istace last night that today was Dwight's birthday.

I am sure all of your fans, friends and family wish you the best and hopefully your present will be a victory over the Kindersley Klippers tonight!!

Go Wings Go!

- Troy K

Fines and suspension to Terriers!

FINE & SUSPENSION

Jan 10/08

Yorkton Terriers Head Coach Ed Zawatsky is fined $200 for game misconduct penalty received during game played January 9th. From that same game, F Derek Serdachny has been suspended for 2 games as a result of receiving a major penalty that resulted in an injury. He will sit out January 12, 13.

Deadlines Deals Announced So Far

TRANSACTIONS

* Updated at 11:00 PM

FYI - Former Estevan Bruins goaltender Guillaume Perusse was dealt by the OCN Blizzard to the Winnipeg Saints of the MJHL. To make room for Perusse, the Saints dealt goaltender Eric Potvin, who had a cup of coffee with the Weyburn Red Wings a couple of years ago, to the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the AJHL.


TRADE Jan 10/08 Melville Millionaires acquire 1987 F Chris Shudo from the Westside Warriors (BCHL) for future considerations. Shudo, from Surrey BC, had 30 points in 38 games played with the Warriors this season.


TRADE Jan 10/08Battlefords North Stars acquire 1989 F Alexandre Leclerc from the Swan Valley Stampeders (MJHL) for future considerations . Leclerc, from St. Marc de Carriers, Quebec, had 7 points in 39 games with the Stampeders this season.

Jan 10/08 La Ronge Ice Wolves trade 1987 F Joe Cook to the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (AJHL) for future considerations.

La Ronge Ice Wolves sign 1989 F Niko Tenello of North Bay, Ontario.

TRADE Jan 10/08 Weyburn Red Wings acquire 1987 F Erick Ruud from the Merritt Centennials (BCHL) for future considerations. The Wings also acquire 1987 F Justin Crockatt from the Fort William First Nation North Stars (SIJHL) for future considerations. (see story below)

TRADE Jan 10/08 Estevan Bruins acquire 1989 D Jorden MacSwain from the Okotoks Oilers (AJHL) for future considerations. MacSwain had 3 assists and 14 penalty minutes in 24 games with the Oilers. MacSwain is from Calgary.


SIGNING Jan 10/08 Kindersley Klippers sign 1989 F Jordan Braid. Braid was assigned to the Klippers by the WHL's Saskatoon Blades. Braid had one assist in 29 games played with the Blades this season. He is from Saskatoon.


SIGNING Jan 10/08 Nipawin Hawks sign 1991 F Kenton Miller. Miller started the season with the Regina Pat Canadians Midget AAA team. He is from Redvers and is a draft pick of the Regina Pats.

SIGNING Jan 10/08 Melfort Mustangs announce the signing of 1987 D Shane Gimas. Gimas previously played in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans before electing to take a baseball scholarship to an NCAA school. Gimas had been playing some senior hockey this winter before signing with the Mustangs. Gimas is from Weekes, Saskatchewan.


TRADE Jan 10/08 Flin Flon Bombers acquire 1987 F Matt Dyck from the Neepawa Natives (MJHL) for future considerations. Dyck had 14 goals and 14 assist in 37 games with the Natives.

TRADE Jan 8/08 Notre Dame Hounds acquire 1988 D Adam Abramov from the Schreiber Diesels (SIJHL) for future considerations.