The Melfort Mustangs jumped into playoff position after extending their winning streak last week as the SJHL regular season comes down to the last few weeks.
Meanwhile, the Nipawin Hawks have clinched a playoff spot and the La Ronge Ice Wolves disappointing season continues.
As of Feb. 23, the Hawks are in second place in the UPL Division with a record of 32-16-1-1 with 66 points, eight points behind the Flin Flon Bombers. The Mustangs are in third place with a record of 24-20-2-2 with 52 points and the Ice Wolves are in fourth place with a record of 8-35-3-1 with 20 points.
The Hawks and Flin Flon Bombers have both clinched playoff spots with the Hawks clinching this week.
Because of their eight game winning streak the Mustangs jumped into a playoff position and are in sixth place in the league overall. The Hawks are currently in fourth place overall and the Ice Wolves are in last place in the SJHL.
The Hawks have six games remaining, the Mustangs have eight games remaining and the Ice Wolves have nine games remaining.
The Hawks finished their weekend two-game homestand with a 7-3 win over the Humboldt Broncos in Nipawin on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Nipawin led 2-1 after the first period and 6-2 after the second period.
Braeden Jockims had a pair of goals for the Hawks. Other Nipawin goals came from Konnor Watson, Noah Derouin, Sean Shiels, Eric Hoiness and Will Whitter.
Tyce Penrod, Logan Flint and Carson Croteau scored for the Broncos.
Gage Roberts made 41 saves for the Hawks. Brady Holvogt made 26 saves in two periods for Humboldt before being replaced by Matt Bradley who stopped four shots.
Nipawin opened their two-game homestand with a 3-2 overtime win over the Estevan Bruins in Nipawin on Friday, Feb. 20.
The Bruins led 1-0 after the first period and 2-1 after the second period.
Finley Radloff scored the game winner for the Hawks 12 seconds into the extra frame.
Jockims tied the game for Nipawin early in the third period, Mason Karokochuk scored the other goal for the Hawks in regulation.
Matthew Ronn and Carter Onrait scored the Estevan goals in regulation.
Colten Scott made 37 saves for the Hawks; Nathan Kam made 31 saves for the Bruins.
The Hawks opened their week with an 8-1 win over the Ice Wolves in Nipawin on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The Hawks led 2-0 after the first period and 5-0 after the second period.
Karokochek and Carter Anderson had a pair of goals for the Hawks; Shiels, Jockims, Hoiness and Jack Janzen added the other Nipawin goals.
Jaxen Smyth scored the lone Ice Wolves goal.
Roberts made 29 saves for Nipawin; Graham Brown made 25 saves for the Ice Wolves in just over 33 minutes of action before he was replaced by Riley Zezel who made 24 saves for La Ronge.
The Hawke were in Flin Flon to play the Bombers on Tuesday, Feb. 24, results were not available for press deadline.
The Mustangs ran their winning streak to seven straight with a 6-1 win over the Ice Wolves in Melfort to start their home-and-home.
The Mustangs led 4-1 after the first period and 6-1 after the second period.
Bo Eisner and Jack McHarg each had a pair of goals for the Mustangs. Other Melfort goals came from Austin Shepherd and Luke Mackenzie.
Smyth scored the lone goal for the Ice Wolves.
Kason Kobelka made 26 saves for the Mustangs; Zezel made four saves in just over seven minutes before he was replaced by Brown who made 28 saves.
The Weyburn Red Wings were in Melfort to face the Mustangs on Tuesday, Feb. 24 results were not available for press deadline.
The Mustangs ran their winning streak to eight straight with a 5-3 win over the Ice Wolves in Air Ronge on Saturday, Feb. 21.
The Ice Wolves led 1-0 after the first period, and the Mustangs led 2-1 after the second period.
Grayden Perozni, Connor Hoemson and Waylon Gardipy scored for the Ice Wolves.
Dru Mushumanski had a pair of goals for the Mustangs. Other Melfort goals came from Cooper Atkinson, Nolan Patterson and Eisner.
Kobelka made 15 saves for Melfort; Brown made 32 saves for La Ronge.
The Ice Wolves were in Melville to face the Millionaires on Tuesday, Feb. 24, results were not available for press deadline. The Ice Wolves were also in Yorkton on Wednesday, Feb. 25, results were not available for press deadline.
The Hawks are in Yorkton to play the Terriers on Friday, Feb. 27.
The Ice Wolves are in Melville to face the Millionaires on Friday, Feb. 27 and in Yorkton to play the Terriers on Saturday, Feb. 28.
The Mustangs are in Flin Flon for two straights nights on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28 to face the league leading Bombers.
Ice Wolves announce coach is taking leave of absence
On Friday, the La Ronge Ice Wolves announced that coach Kevin Kaminski is taking a person leave of absence effective Feb. 20.
During this time assistant Kyle Graham will assume head coaching and hockey operations responsibilities.
“The Board of Directors fully supports Kebin during this time and respects his privacy,” a statement from the team stated on Facebook.
“Our priority remains the well-being of our player and operations will continue as normal. We are committed to ensuring stability and continuity within our organization.”
The statement concluded that the organization appreciate the continued support of their fans, billets, sponsors and community.
“The Ice Wolves organization remains strong, united and focused as we move forward together,” the statement concluded.
