Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
It was a good news-bad news kind of day for the Prince Albert Mintos on Friday with a lot of emphasis being placed on the latter.
First the good news: Prince Albert played right to the final whistle and won the final five minutes of their Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League game against the Estevan Bears.
Now for the bad news: The Mintos were badly outplayed for the other 55 minutes resulting in a 7-3 setback and further challenging their chase for a playoff spot as the season winds down. And, the news doesn’t get any better as they now head to Moose Jaw for a doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday to take on the second-place Warriors.
“I would think they (the players) are feeling the pressure,” admitted Mintos’ assistant coach Jeff Willoughby immediately following the lopsided loss. “I’m sure it (playoffs) is in the back of their mind, but it can’t be in the front of their mind. You can’t play like that.”
Dylan Brass pretty much took the game in his own hands scoring Estevan’s first four goals and staking the Bears to a 4-1 advantage less than two minutes into the second period. Ethan Boehm, Brendan Jones and Rhys Petersmeyer stretched that lead to 7-1 by the midway point of the third period before Liam Acorn and Cohen Greenwood scored late markers for the Mintos. Maxim Cooper also tallied for Prince Albert, who were outshot 45-33 with Wyatt Nelson suffering the loss in the Mintos’ goal.
“We need to be more consistent,” said Willoughby. “We didn’t like our first period, but in the third period we played better. The third period is the one you want to be your worst. We need a better start and work our way out from that.”
The Mintos, who had snapped an eight-game losing streak last week when they travelled to the Battlefords and soundly beat the Stars 7-3, now trail the Tisdale Trojans by four points for the final playoff spot, but they do hold two games in hand. The Stars, who rebounded from the loss to Prince Albert with a pair of victories over the Saskatoon Contacts earlier this week, are five points ahead of the Mintos with Prince Albert once again holding a pair of games in hand. The Contacts, meanwhile, are just two points back of the Mintos making it a four-team battle for the final two playoff spots.
The task at hand is a tough one, but not insurmountable. Prince Albert and Moose Jaw have met twice this year with each team winning once. In fact, the Mintos’ 4-2 triumph over the Warriors in early December was just the second time Moose Jaw lost in regulation time, but it was also their last as the Warriors, along with the defending Telus Cup champion Regina Pat Canadians, have long ago locked up the top two spots for the upcoming playoffs.
“We just have to be more consistent,” reiterated Willoughby. “We need to play as close to 60 minutes as we can.”
The busy stretch of the schedule continues for the Mintos on Tuesday as they will be back on home ice to take on the Warman Wildcats at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
Dave Leaderhouse photo
It was all hands on deck as the Prince Albert Mintos and Estevan Bears battled for a loose puck during second-period action of their Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League game at the Art Hauser Centre.
