Death, taxes, and the Melfort Mustangs becoming kings of the SJHL castle.
The first two are guaranteed in this life, and while the third isn’t, you’d certainly be forgiven for thinking otherwise.
Buoyed by 1,935 raucous patrons at the Northern Lights Palace, the Mustangs clinched their second straight Saskatchewan Junior A title on Sunday with a 3-0 win over the Weyburn Red Wings. The victory marked the first time an SJHL team has earned back-to-back championships in a decade. The last team to do it? The Melfort Mustangs in 2015 and 2016.
“To be able to go back to back is the happiest I’ve ever been,” said team captain and playoff MVP Ty Thornton. “Not many people can say they made it to the finals in their junior careers so to be able to be here a second time is an unbelievable feeling.”
It’s hard to improve on a championship season, but the Mustangs managed to do it. In last year’s finals they were underdogs taking on a first place Flin Flon Bombers squad that ran away with the SJHL’s regular season crown. This year, the Mustangs were the favourites, finishing first in the league, and facing a Weyburn Red Wings team that ended the regular season 22 points behind them.
The Mustangs lost only 10 games all regular season, and cruised into the finals with a 4-1 series win over the Kindersley Klippers, and a 4-0 sweep of the Yorkton Terriers.
“Right from the start of the year we had an absolutely amazing run,” said forward Danton Cox, a former Prince Albert Minto and one of 13 players on the Mustangs roster who suited up for both SJHL championships. “I can’t remember how many games in a row we won, but it was absolutely phenomenal. These guys have just continued to get better and better. We’ve grown all throughout the year, and we’ve been fantastic.”
The Mustangs were on a roll heading into the finals, but the Red Wings didn’t make it easy. The Viterra Division champions handed the Mustangs their second loss of the playoffs with 2-1 victory in Game 1, and played them tough in a 3-0 loss in Game 2 and a 1-0 loss in Game 3.
The Mustangs dominated play with a 5-1 win in Game 4, but Game 5 was a tough, grinding affair as both teams sought to wear each other down. In the end, it was the Red Wings who gave way.
Melfort outshot the visitors 16-3 in the opening period, struck once on the powerplay in the second, and added two insurance markers in the third.
“We just thought we had to put emotions away,” said defenceman Zach Turner, whose second period goal proved to be the game winner. “We needed to work hard and stick to our game plan and it worked out for us.”
“I think we were able to stick to our identity and play Mustang hockey,” Thornton added. “We played hard. We played physical. They’re a super-skilled team up front and I think we did very well shutting them down.”
Goaltending was the key on Sunday. Red Wings netminder Angelo Zol faced a barrage of shots, but managed keep the hometown crowd quiet until Turner’s goal.
The turning point came at 6:31 of the second when Weyburn’s Jerome Maharaj received a double-minor for spearing. The Mustangs then caught a break when an Ashton Paul’s slap shot from the point struck a Weyburn defender in the chest. With the defender down on the ice, Paul grabbed the puck and fed a cross-ice pass to Turner for the game’s first goal.
“I remember it just sitting there,” Turner said afterwards. “Paulie threw the puck over to me. I just saw an open net and I decided to hammer it in.”
It was a rewarding goal for the Mustangs, who were frustrated by Zol’s goaltending throughout the first period. At the other end of the ice, Melfort goalie Kristian Coombs faced few shots, but came up big when needed.
The Mustangs netminder finished the playoffs with a .942 save percentage, a 1.33 GAA, and four shutouts, three of which game in the SJHL finals. It was a MVP performance, even though he didn’t have the award to show for it.
In fact, the actual playoff MVP was shocked he didn’t win.
“Honestly, I was expecting our goalie, Coombs, to get it,” Thornton said when asked about his playoff MVP award. “He had an unbelievable playoff series.”
After the game, Mustangs head coach Trevor Blevins credited his squad for staying focused and “dialed in” even though they were stymied the first 20 minutes.
“The biggest part was not getting frustrated,” Blevins said. “You throw up 16 shots on net and you don’t get rewarded—on some pretty quality scoring chances too. (The) guys did a great job (being) mentally tough all the way through the game. They didn’t get frustrated, played the right way, and never veered off the game plan so that’s a testament to them. They got it done.”
Weyburn outshot Melfort 6-5 in the third period, but struggled to generate offence. A late powerplay opportunity did little to swing the momentum in their favour, as the Mustang penalty kill quickly shut down every foray the visitors made.
At the other end, Reilley Kotai made the most of the few chances left, firing a wrist shot top corner over Zol’s blocker following a Weyburn turnover.
Then, with less than a minute to play, Logan Belton iced the victory with an empty net goal, sending the crowd into a frenzy. When the buzzer sounded, 14 players stormed off the Melfort bench to join five more on the ice in mobbing Coombs in the Mustangs’ goal.
“It’s awesome,” Turner said. “This is an unbelievable feeling. To go from day one with these guys all the way right to the end, it’s been unbelievable. Everyone’s been great and everyone’s put in the effort to deserve this moment right now.”
“No one picked us to win, I’ll tell you that,” Blevins said. “It was (apparent) pretty early that we had something special here. You’ve got a target on your back from day one, being a defending champion. The guys took it on themselves and really, from the leadership group all the way through, just did a great job.”
“(It’s) nothing but excitement,” said Cox. “These guys have battled so hard for us through and through all regular season (and) all playoffs long. I love each and every one of these guys. They’re absolutely amazing. I owe it all to them. You’re the best.”
