The Melfort Mustangs entered the Christmas Break as one of the hottest teams in the SJHL with seven straight wins.
They also moved into first place in the Sherwood Division heading into the break.
As of Dec. 20 the Mustangs are in first place with a record of 20-9-1-4 with 45 points, two points ahead of the Flin Flon Bombers. Meanwhile, the La Ronge Ice Wolves are in third place with a record of 14-17-1-2 with 31 points and the Nipawin Hawks are in fourth place with a record of 12-16-0-5 with 29 points.
Melfort ran their win streak to seven straight entering the break with a 3-0 shutout win over the Hawks at the Cage on Saturday, Dec. 18. James Venne stopped all 21 shots he faced to record the shutout for Melfort.
The game was scoreless after the first period and the Mustangs led 1-0 after the second period. Curtis Hammond, Hayden Tuba and Carter Anderson scored for the Mustangs.
The Hawks’ Chase Hamm made 21 saves.
The Mustangs ran their win streak to six straight with a 6-1 win over the Hawks in Melfort on Friday, Dec. 17 to open the home-and-home.
The game was scoreless after one period and Melfort led 3-0 after the second period. Marco Lopez had a hat trick for Melfort. Seth McCulloch and Kevin Minnoch and Anderson scored the other Mustangs’ goals. Mkyllan Couture scored the lone Hawks’ goal.
Venne made 20 saves for Melfort. Harmon Laser-Hume made 36 saves for Nipawin.
Melfort won their fifth straight with a 5-1 win over the Millionaires in Melville on Tuesday, Dec. 14.
The Mustangs led 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 after the second period. Tye Scherger, Trenton Curtis, Lopez and Anderson scored for Melfort. Nicolas Samson scored the lone goal for Melville.
Venne made 27 saves for Melfort; Alex Giroux had 37 saves for Melville
The Hawks opened their week with a 5-4 overtime win over the Terriers in Yorkton on Tuesday, Dec. 14.
Brody Wilson scored the winner for the Hawks 1:49 into the extra frame.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and Yorkton led 4-3 after the second period.
Andrew Schaab, Christian Alberstson, Rylan Lefebyre and Couture scored for Nipawin in regulation.
JD Hall had a pair of goals for Yorkton in regulation while Maddux Nollski and Erik Boers added the other Terriers’ goals.
Hamm made 23 saves for Nipawin; Bradley Mistol had 18 saves for Yorkton.
The Ice Wolves lost the second half of their home-and-home with the Bombers 5-2 at the Whitney Forum on Saturday, Dec. 18.
The game was scoreless after the first period and the Ice Wolves led 1-0 after the second period. Gavin Mattey and Aaron Greyeyes scored the La Ronge goals. Matt Egan had a pair of goals for Flin Flon, Jaxon Martens, Zak Smith and Jeremi Tremblay added the other Bombers’ goals.
Xavier Cannon made 27 saves for La Ronge. Max Hildebrand made 33 saves for Flin Flon.
The Ice Wolves returned to the ice after a long layoff with a 7-2 win over the Bombers in La Ronge to open the home-and-home on Friday, Dec. 17.
The Bombers led 2-1 after the first period and La Ronge led 3-2 after the second period.
Brandon Della Paolera and Holden Knights each had a pair of goals for La Ronge. Kole Christensson, Nate Looft and Ryley Morgan added the other goals for La Ronge.
Cannon made 23 saves for La Ronge; Cal Schell had 28 saves for Flin Flon.
The Sherwood Division faces off against each other in home-and-home series after the Christmas break with the Ice Wolves in Flin Flon and the Hawks in Melfort on Dec. 31.
The teams face off again on Jan. 1, 2022 with Flin Flon in La Ronge and Melfort in Nipawin.
