Wolves Use Big Third Period to Down Hounds!

The La Ronge Ice Wolves scored five times in the third period as the Wolves downed the Notre Dame Hounds 7-5. Jarrid Dowhay and Bruno - Pier Gosselin each had a goal and three assists to lead the Ice Wolves. Codie Pederson and Jordie Johnston each scored twice for La Ronge with Joseph Cook also scoring a goal. Tyler Karst had three assists for the Ice Wolves who also got a pair of assists from David Lawrence and Calvin Fiddler. Chris Bratina had a goal and an assist for the Hounds. Roy Farrer, Kyle Ireland, Alan Logue and Travis Janke also scored for Notre Dame. Adam Moar was in a testy mood for the Ice Wolves as he had two fights which leads to an automatic game misconduct as well as a second game misconduct for a checking from behind infraction. Brian Kaval got the start for the Ice Wolves and made 25 saves. Andre-Michel Guay faced 54 shots, stopping 47 for the Hounds.

- Brad M.

Wings hold Sports Dinner and Auction!

The Weyburn Red Wings held their sixth annual Sports Dinner and Auction at the McKenna Hall last night with Keynote Speakers Clark Robertson, Chris Szarka, and Paul Henderson.

Paul Henderson ( Played 12 years in NHL; 5 seasons with Detroit, 6 with Toronto, 1 with Atlanta, and 5 seasons in WHA. In 1972 "Summit Series" Paul scored the game winning goal in the last three games.

Chris Szarka (11th season with Riders - Selected in 1997 CFL College Draft. Only game missed in 2007 was West Final. Played in 1997 Grey Cup and won the Grey Cup with the Riders in 2007.

Clark Robertson "Is Don Cherry" (19 years in entertainment industry, 15 year veteran comedian, actor (television and film) and was the nights MC. He did one heck of a job. The night was filled with non stop laughs thanks to Clark,,, um I mean Don.

Great to see a full house at the event. A post will be made on the Red Wings homepage on Monday with the total funds raised for the organization.

- By Troy K

Busy Night in SJHL!

There were five games on tap in the SJHL tonight with only your Weyburn Red Wings, who are hosting there sixth annual sports dinner tonight, and the Battlefords North Stars having the night off.

It was a wild game in Estevan that fittingly went to a shootout as the Kindersley Klippers won 6-5. Brett Leedahl scored the shootout clincher on a spin-o-rama move on Bruins goaltender Karsten Felske while also adding a goal and an assist in regulation. Ryan Sawka also had a goal and an assist for the Klippers. Matt Sawa, Jonathan Redlick, and Jayde Dunser also scored for Kindersley. The Bruins got most of their offense from the blue line as both Davis Brown and Kealin Wong scored twice for Estevan. Brody Haygarth had the other Bruins goal. Kyle Ermel added two assists for the Bruins. Ryan Nieszner allowed only three goals on 11 shots before being pulled in favor of Matt Weninger. Karsten Felske took the loss for the Bruins. The Klippers outshot the Bruins 39-28 in the game.

In Melfort, the Mustangs edged the visiting Melville Millionaires by a score of 4-3. Clint Olson scored twice for the Mustangs, including the game winner with just over five minutes remaining in the third period, to lead the Mustangs to victory. Ryan Gareau and Cory Buffin also tallied for Melfort. Brady Gordon added two assists for Melfort who also got assists from Nick Kalnicki, Jason Walker, Riley Clark and Taylor Watt. Derek Edwards, Aaron Decorby and Brad Johnston replied for Melville. Kale Dolinski, Michael Jordan, Matt Kinnunen, Dion Campbell and Curtis Beech added assists for the Mils. Ilia Ejov got the win in goal as he stopped 28 of 31 Melville shots. Kyle Cantlon took the loss despite a 30 save effort.

The Yorkton Terriers crept closer to the fourth place Estevan Bruins in the Sherwood Conference as they downed the Nipawin Hawks 3-1 on home ice. Bryan Hull, Cody Zubko and Greg Coburn scored for the Terriers. Kyle Block, Evan Neibrandt and Logan Dew had assists for the Terriers. Steve Mason had the Hawks goal with assists going to Torrie Dyck and Brent Ottmann. Lynden Sammartino was not overly busy in the Yorkton goal but allowed only one goal on 18 shots. Derek Kleinsteuber had another good start for the Hawks but had no goal support as he made 31 saves in the loss.

In Flin Flon, goals were coming fast and furious as the Bombers doubled the Notre Dame Hounds 8-4. Reid MacLeod led the way for the Bombers with two goals and two assists. Cole Wilson added a goal and three assists. Dennis Kubat finished with a goal and two assists. Other multiple point players for the Bombers were: Myles Masse (3 assists), Pierre-Luc Boucher (1 goal, 1 assist), Scott Day (2 goals). Kyle Ireland scored twice for the Hounds while Rylan Schwartz and Blake Peake added singles. Chris Bratina had two assists for the Hounds. Carsen Chubak was roughed up a bit in the third period as he allowed all 4 Hound goals in the third and only finished with 13 saves but picks up the win nonetheless. Mark Currie went the distance for the Hounds and allowed 8 goals on 43 shots.

It was a dandy of a game in La Ronge as two Itech powerhouses battled it out with the Humboldt Broncos coming away with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Ice Wolves. Eddie Gale was the shootout hero for the Broncos. Matt Kirzinger and Scott Schroeder scored in regulation for the Broncos. Tory Allan, Cory Knaus, and Justin Stoski all had assists. Jordie Johnston had a goal and an assist for La Ronge. Calvin Fiddler forced overtime with just 49 seconds to go in regulation. Dustin Stevenson, Joel Belair and Jarrid Dowhay all added assists for La Ronge. Taylor Nelson made 27 saves for Humboldt, including five in overtime. Jonathan Jobin stopped 36 of 38 shots he faced in 65 minutes of action and only allowing the goal to Gale in the shootout. The Broncos have now won 12 in a row as they continue to be the overall points leader in the SJHL.

Tonight's Three Stars:

1. Cole Wilson - Flin Flon Bombers (4 point night)
2. Clint Olson - Melfort Mustangs (2 goals, Game winner)
3. Davis Brown - Estevan Bruins (2 goals night for Bruins rookie d-man)

- Brad M.

Wings Shutdown Klippers!

The Sherwood conference leaders clashed at the Weyburn Colosseum tonight and although some may say it was a boring defensive style of game, when the chips were down the Red Wings came away with the 3-0 shutout victory. Kyle Haines got the Wings on the board with his second of the season at the 8:35 mark of the first period. It was a power play marker for Haines with assists going to super rookie Rhett Bly and Preston Shupe. Bly would put the Wings up short-handed with 5:51 to go in the third with assists going to Shupe and Mick Pawlyshyn. Nick Needham capped things off with an empty netter with five seconds to play to seal the victory. Adam Feniak and Eric Calibaba assisted on Needham's goal. The trio of Bly, Shupe and Torrey Lindsay continues to cause havoc on their opponents and have been one of the most consistent lines throughout the league since the line was formed. All star snubbed goaltender AJ Whiffen picked up his league leading fifth shutout of the season and is now just one shutout back of tying the SJHL single season record. What an amazing feat for this rookie goaltender and I find it amazing that the other coaches around the Sherwood did not find it proper to vote him into a spot in the game. Oh well, the best way to prove Sherwood coaches like Larry Wintoneak wrong is to shutout their teams. Whiffen picked up 27 saves for the shutout while Sherwood conference all star Ryan Nieszner stopped 23 shots fired his way for the Klippers.

Game Notes: Josh Bray and Carter Selinger were out of the lineup tonight while Luke Johnson and Riley Daulby were back in. Stephen Simms played his third consecutive game at forward as he played alongside Brayden Nargang and Luke Johnson......... The Red Wings lead both Kindersley and Melville by six points for first in the Sherwood. The Klippers have one game in hand on the Wings which they will play tomorrow night while the Millionaires have two games in hand. Next weekend is really pivotal for the Red Wings as they play twice in Kindersley in three nights. (Friday and Sunday sandwiched around a game in Battlefords on Saturday)

Elsewhere:

Melfort 6 - Jason Walker (2), Clint Olson, Taylor Watt, Kyle Fraser, Jordan Morgan
Battlefords 4 - Kassidy Collins, Rick Cey, Mitch Wall, Shawn McNulty

WG - Ilia Ejov (18/22)
LG - Adrien Lemay (26/31)

Nipawin 0 - No scoring
Melville 3 - Levi Lind, Bryant Dyke, Aaron Decorby

WG - Travis Bosch (24/24 - shutout)
LG - Derek Kleinsteuber (42/45)

Humboldt 4 - Jordan Schindel, Matthew Kirzinger, Brayden Klimosk0, Scott Schroeder
Flin Flon 0 - No scoring

WG - Taylor Nelson (31/31 - shutout)
LG - Calvin Bartel (24/28)

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 to 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.

- Troy K

All Star selection aftermath!

We love seeing all the comments on the blog but it is now our turn to voice our opinion. I will go first and I am sure Brad will be online later tonight to voice his displeasure with some of the choices made.

First off I would just like to clear up a couple things. The coaching staff did have Simms, Bray and Whiffen on the voting list. I spoke with Dwight this afternoon to get some of his comments and at his request they will not be published, but I will say that I know for a fact he would have liked to see some changes to that roster. Let's just put it this way, the majority of you are in agreeance with him.

Dwight did mention that this happens every single year. "We try and fix the selection process at the annual league meetings but nothing ever seems to work, we always have guys who undeservedly get left off of the roster." he mentioned.

Now on with the grievances. Personally I felt that Josh Bray should have got the nod for the team. I really like the fact that he totally revamped his game in the off season and has been among the leading Red Wings scorers. When I read the list and didn't see his name I was definitely shocked.(Hopefully he doesn't take this personally and tears the league up in the second half of the season)

As for Whiffen, I might have been one of the only people that wasn't surprised that he didn't make the team. I know he should be there, all you have to do is look at the stats, and if you have been to a few Red Wings games and seen him play then you have a first hand look at why he really is an All Star. He has already made a name for himself this year and at 18 he has plenty of chances to get the rest of the league to pay attention. I think some people might have gave Sammartino the edge since the game is being held in Yorkton and they are celebrating their 35th Anniversary, it's just good for the hometown crowd(unfortunately) .AJ should have the next two years to look forward too, as he has a great chance at being the starting goalie for the Sherwood Conference.

What did I like? Of course seeing Haines and Shupe represent the team is great for Weyburn. Two top notch players from Weyburn named as All Stars, it doesn't get much better than that. Also I am pleased to see Torrey Lindsay make the squad as he was expected to add some offensive jump to the team when he was aquired just before the season started. He has certainly helped the Red Wings become one of the most balanced offenses in the SJHL.

That's all for me, I will let Brad voice his opinion next. Let the comments begin!

- Troy K

SJHL All Stars Released!

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has released the names of the forty players chosen to participate in the SJHL All-Star Game, which will be played Sunday, January 20th at 2pm in Yorkton.
The hosts, Terriers, have placed three players on the squad, including the Sherwood Conference starting goaltender, Lynden Sammartino. Defensemen Michael Trebish and Jordan Pawelec will also represent Yorkton.
Joining Sammartino in the starting line-up will be defensemen Derek Edwards of Melville and Kealin Wong of the Estevan Bruins. The Kindersley dynamic trio of Jonathan Redlick (centre), Brett Leedahl (left wing), and Ryan Sawka (right wing) comprise the starting forwards.
The Klippers lead all Sherwood Conference teams with five players selected to take part in the mid-season classic. Goalie Ryan Nieszner and defenseman Scott Linnell join Redlick, Sawka, and Leedahl.
Weyburn placed four players on the roster (defenseman Kyle Haines, and forwards Brayden Nargang, Torrey Lindsay, and Preston Shupe). Joining Wong from the Estevan Bruins will be forwards Kyle Stroh, Payden Benning, and Kyle Ermel. Two forwards, Dion Campbell and Kale Dolinski, round out the Melville contingent, along with Edwards. The lone Notre Dame Hound to get selected is 1990 rookie sensation Rylan Schwartz.
The defending Credential Cup champion Humboldt Broncos will have six players on the Itech Conference All-Stars.
Goalie Taylor Nelson was the only one of them to make the starting line-up. He'll have some familiar faces playing directly in front of him as defensemen Matthew Rintoul, Tanner Vandesype, and Russ Nielsen all made the grade. Forwards Jordan Schindel and Laurent Benjamin are also headed to Yorkton.
Flin Flon's exciting forwards that consist of Reid MacLeod, Pierre-Luc Boucher, and Dennis Kubat are also going to the All-Star Game, along with defenseman Myles Masse. Former Bomber Shawn McNulty was selected to go as he'll be the lone representative for the Battlefords North Stars.
Three other teams are sending three players each. The Melfort Mustangs will be represented by goalie Ilia Ejov, defenseman Riley Clark, and forward Taylor Watt. La Ronge is sending its entire top line of Jordie Johnston, Bruno-Pier Gosselin, and Jarrid Dowhay. Nipawin Hawks' All-Stars are defenseman Blair Toms and forwards Brent Ottmann and Torrie Dyck.
The Itech starting line-up features Nelson, Toms, Masse, Johnston, Dyck, and MacLeod.
SJHL All-Stars are determined by way of a voting process by the league's head coaches with criteria that stipulate coaches being forbidden from voting for his own players. Coaches had to return ballots to the SJHL Head Office by December 21st. All SJHL teams must have, at least, one representative in the game.
The coaching staffs were determined by winning percentages. The team with the best winning percentage in the Itech Conference gets to send its staff to Yorkton, and ditto for the Sherwood Conference.
With this in mind, the Humboldt Broncos coaching fraternity of Dean Brockman, Murray Brookbank, and Tim Klimosko; as well as trainer Ramandeep Dhanjal has earned the right for the Itech Conference. The Broncos had a winning percentage of .776 as of the end of December (59-points in 38-games). Thanks to a nine game winning streak near the end of the month, that enabled Brockman's staff to beat out Melfort's Darrell Mann and Trevor Blevins, who had their Mustangs sitting at a winning percentage of .667.
The Sherwood Conference coaching staff will be comprised of the Weyburn Red Wings Head Coach in Dwight McMillan, Assistant Coach Darcy Pindus, Assistant Coach Tyler McMillan, General Manager Ron Rumball, and Trainers Tom Sanders, Don Pindus, and Edward Istace. The Wings also employ Safety Person Ward Borys.
The Red Wing staff had a winning percentage of .641 (50-points in 39-games), which narrowly beat Kindersley's coaches of Larry Wintoneak and Kevin Edgerton, who had their Klipper team playing at a .615 clip (48-points in 39-games).
The SJHL All-Star Weekend begins on Friday, January 18th with the Terriers facing off against the Melville Millionaires; followed by a Meet & Greet Terrier 35th Anniversary Social. On Saturday, January 19th there will be a Terrier Alumni Game that also features the Hanson Brothers, from the famous movie 'Slapshot'. The supper banquet headlines NHL Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler and Saskatchewan Roughrider wide receiver Matt Dominguez, who will be bringing along the Grey Cup. The actual All-Star Game goes Sunday, January 20th at 2pm at the Farrell Agencies Arena.

(Note: I will post my opinions of the all star selections at some point tonight when I have more time but to give you a preview of my opinion - AJ Whiffen was absolutely screwed over by the all star selection process)

- Brad M.

Count to 1000 Career Wins Is On!

A significant milestone is on the horizon for a coaching legend as Weyburn Red Wings head coach has amassed 992 career regular season wins over his SJHL career. As Dwight McMillan approaches his 1000th win, we will be counting up the wins up to the magical number.

Please keep in mind this total does not include the numerous playoff wins, Royal Bank Cup wins, exhibition game wins and the list goes on. This is a remarkable achievment for a remarkable and humble man and we hope you will all join us in wishing Dwight the best of luck as as closes in on #1,000.

Dwight McMillan has been a part of the organization since the inaugural season of the Weyburn Red Wings (1960-61) when he was a player for the team. He began his coaching career in the 1972-73 season and other than a few years in the middle, he has been behind the bench ever since. Please join us all in the count to 1000. Best of luck to Dwight and the entire Red Wing organization.

- Brad M.

In the top picture, which is from Dwight's first season coaching (1972-73). See if you can spot the young rookie coach. Also some of you may recognize Ronnie Rumball in the photo as well.

Shuper Duper Win for Wings!

WEYBURN 3, ESTEVAN 2

The Weyburn Red Wings started off 2008 just like they ended 2007, with a victory over the arch-rival Estevan Bruins this afternoon at the Civic Auditorium in Estevan.

Josh Bray, with his 20th of the season, got the Wings on the board at the 9:16 mark of the first period after being sent in on a breakaway pass by defenseman Kyle Haines. Bray snuck it over the outstreched body of Bruins goaltender David Ritz to make it 1-0. The Bruins then tied the game at the 17:55 mark of the first after a questionable too many men on the ice call was made against the Wings. Kyle Stroh picked up the power play marker with Payden Benning and Colton MacPherson getting the assists. The Wings would regain the lead with a power play goal from Preston Shupe at the 3:17 mark of the second period. Rhett Bly and Torrey Lindsay assisted on the goal. Shupe was not done there as he would put the Wings up 3-1 at the 12:51 mark of the third after stealing the puck while short-handed off of an Estevan defender in the Bruins zone. He then proceeded to deke out Ritz to make it 3-1. The Bruins would make things closer at 19:42 of the third as Kyle Garagan cut the lead to one. However theat would be too little too late as the Wings pick up the 3-2 win. Benning and Stroh assisted on Garagan's goal. AJ Whiffen got help with his save percentage figures today as somehow the shotkeepers in Estevan had the final shots at 44-20 in favor of the Bruins. Whiffen had an unbelievable save in the third period which helped in solidifying the lead in the third period.

Game notes: Eric Calibaba returned from the injured list and played on a line with Scott Doody and Nick Needham.............. Stephen Simms moved to forward for his second consecutive game and did not look out of place on a line with Josh Bray and Brayden Nargang........ There were 869 fans in attendance in Estevan today...... Weyburn went 1/4 on the power play, the Bruins were 1/10............. Favorite quote from pre-game interviews - Kevin Smith asked Karry Biette during his coaches interview what kind of changes the Bruins would be making for the game - Biette's answer was that the biggest change would be a different referee for this game. Seems Biette was a bit perturbed by referee Chad Marshall on Saturday night. All I can say that if Biette was mad on Saturday he should have been ecstatic tonight as his team had twice as many power play opportunities. Unfortunately for him, the Bruins power play was not very successful this afternoon........ Nice to see a big contingent of fans from Weyburn today......... Wings return to action on Friday night when they host the Kindersley Klippers. Should be a dandy with the Wings currently holding a four point lead over the second place Klippers.


Melville 4 Yorkton 1

The two teams were also playing the second half of a home and home and the Melville Millionaires would copy the Weyburn Red Wings and complete the two game sweep.

The Terriers opened the scoring at 8:59 of the second period as Rylan McDonell picked up the goal from Kyle Block and Chris Cook. However it would be all Melville after that as the Millionaires scored 4 goals within a 5:30 span. Dion Campbell, Levi Lind, Bryant Dyke and Kale Dolinski all scored for Melville. Brad Johnston added two assists for Melville. Derek Edwards, Jordan Reeve, Matt Kinnunen and Dolinski all added assists for the Mils. Kyle Cantlon made his second straight start for the Mils and stopped 31 Yorkton shots. Lynden Sammartino started for the Terriers and surrendered three goals on only 14 shots. Joel Danyluk went the rest of the way stopping 8/9. The Millionaires trail the Wings by six points in the Sherwood Conference.

- Brad M.