With a weekend sweep of the Nipawin Hawks, the La Ronge Ice Wolves have extended their lead in the SJHL Sherwood Division.
As of Jan. 30, the Ice Wolves are in first place with a record of 27-14-3-1 with 58 points, three points ahead of the second-place Flin Flon Bombers. The Melfort Mustangs are in third place with a record of 23-12-5-2 with 53 points and the Hawks are in fourth place with a record of 21-18-2-1 with 45 points.
The Ice Wolves completed their home-and-home sweep of the Hawks with a 6-3 win in Nipawin on Saturday, Jan. 28. The game was tied 2-2 after the first and the Ice Wolves led 5-2 after the second period.
Mason Bueckert had a hat trick for La Ronge; Rylan Silzer, Jacob Cossette and Parker Layton added the other Ice Wolves’ goals. Zander Stewart, Reese Malkewich and Maguire Ratzlaff responded for the Hawks.
Topher Chirico made 44 saves for the Ice Wolves; Jackson Fellner made four saves for the Hawks in just over 27 minutes before he was replaced by Jayden Kraus who made seven saves.
The Ice Wolves opened the home-and-home with a 3-2 overtime win over the Hawks in La Ronge on Friday, Jan. 27. Dylan Handel scored the game winner for La Ronge 49 seconds into the extra frame.
The Hawks led 2-1 after the first and second periods. Kyle Graham and Cossette scored in regulation time for the Ice Wolves. Joel Mabin and Alex Johnson responded in regulation for the Hawks.
Chirico made 46 saves for La Ronge; Fellner made 44 saves for Nipawin.
Nipawin opened their week with a 5-2 win over the Terriers in Yorkton on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and the Hawks led 4-2 after the second period.
Braxton Buckberger had a pair of goals for Nipawin; Francois-Xavier Bedard, Eric Robbie and Johnson added the other Nipawin goals. Maddux Nollski and Cade Kennedy responded for the Terriers.
Fellner made 26 saves for Nipawin; Tysen Smith made 45 saves for Yorkton.
The Ice Wolves opened their week with a 9-2 loss to the league leading Battlefords North Stars on Tuesday, Jan. 24 in Battleford.
Thomas Wright and Walker Jerome scored for the Ice Wolves. Bradley Blake, Alex Izyk and Kian Bell each had a pair of goals for the North Stars. Jake Southgate, Tanner Gold and Keiton Klein added the other Battlefords goals.
Dawson Smith made eight saves for La Ronge in just over 13 minutes before he was relieved by Chirico who made 25 saves; Josh Kotai made 33 saves for the North Stars.
The Mustangs closed their week with a 4-1 win over the Humboldt Broncos in Melfort on Saturday, Jan. 28. Melfort led 3-0 after the first and 3-1 after the second period.
Clarke Huxley had a pair of goals for the Mustangs; Zac Somers and Ben Tkachuk added the other Melfort goals. Lucas Ceccarelli responded for the Broncos.
James Venne made 37 saves for Melfort; Benjamin Motew made 23 saves for Humboldt.
Melfort opened their weekend with a 4-3 overtime win over the Red Wings in Weyburn on Friday, Jan. 27. Riley Ashe scored the winner for the Mustangs just over a minute into overtime.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and the Red Wings led 2-1 after the second period. Aiden Wildeman, Leith Olafson and Dawson Leroux scored in regulation time for the Mustangs. Ty Mason, Jackson Hassman and Jakob Kalin responded for Weyburn in regulation.
Venne made 27 saves for Melfort; Dazza Mitchell made 26 saves for Weyburn.
Melfort opened their week with a 5-4 win over the Bombers in Melfort on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The game was tied 2-2 after the first period and the Mustangs led 4-2 after the second period.
Tkachuk had a pair of goals for Melfort; Huxley, Leroux and Somers added the other Mustangs’ goals.
Cole Dupperreault had a pair of goals for the Bombers; Jeremi Tremblay and Alexi Sylvestre added the other Flin Flon goals.
Venne made 33 saves for Melfort; Harmon Laser-Hume made four saves for the Bombers in just over 21 minutes before he was replaced by Kenneth Marquart who made 12 saves.
Because of the SJHL/MJHL Showcase the teams are off during the week.
The Ice Wolves are in Weyburn to play the Red Wings on Friday, Feb. 3 and in Melville to play the Millionaires on Saturday, Feb. 4. Melfort is in Battleford to play the North Stars on Saturday, Feb. 4 and in Kindersley to play the Klippers on Sunday, Feb. 5. The Hawks are in Flin Flon to play the Bombers on Saturday, Feb. 4.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
