The Prince Albert Northern Bears and Swift Current Wildcats are set to clash for the third straight game, and for the final time this season.
It will be a unique game for both clubs, since they won’t be playing in Prince Albert or Swift Current. Instead, both teams will head down to Rosetown and play at the AGT Centre. With two players directly from Rosetown—Bears goalie Paige Fischer and Wildcats forward Ella Wingert—plus 11 more from the surrounding area, Kevin Clark, an executive for Rosetown minor hockey, says it’s a great chance to showcase some home grown players.
“We have a lot of local talent on both teams, and we’re really trying to grow the female game in the area,” Clark said. “We’re trying to get the highest calibre players in the province to come play a game in our town.”
Saturday’s game between Prince Albert and Swift Current will be the feature game of Rosetown’s minor hockey day, with both clubs coming off of two great games last weekend.
“We’ve been trying to do this for the last couple of years, but obviously with what’s going on, it wasn’t able to happen,” Clark said. “This year we got in contact with Swift Current’s coach. They have a couple of girls from Rosetown on that team, and I said it would be great to have them play.
“We have a couple of locals on the Prince Albert team as well, and it was great to get them to want to come out too. It’s something else for people to watch in town. If we get a good working relationship with Swift Current or Prince Albert, this is something that we would definitely like to continue moving forward.”
The Wildcats are coming in full of momentum from last weekend after getting the better of the Bears in their last two meetings, and winning four straight games. A pair of 2-1 wins in Prince Albert, one of which came in a shootout, has Swift Current sitting second place in league standings, just one point behind the Regina Rebels.
Meanwhile for Prince Albert, they suffered just their second regulation loss over their last six games last Saturday. The Bears were bit by the goal bug in their return from the holiday break scoring just two goals in two games against Swift Current. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, as they mustered 71 shots combined in those two home games.
The absences of Erin Kirkland and Calla Kampen up front, as well as Brooklin Fry on the back end due to COVID-19 reasons played an impact on their weekend games as well. The three players are third, fourth, and fifth in team scoring respectively, with 27 points between them. The bright side of last weekend’s contest is that the Bears were still able to generate high quality scoring chances, with depth players contributing in the process. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before some shots start finding the back of the net.
Karlee Lehner played a key part in literally saving both games for the Wildcats. She made 40 stops on 41 shots in Swift Current’s 2-1 win on Jan 7th, and made 29 more saves in another 2-1 win on Jan. 8th. The return home was a sweet one for her, as the team snuck away with back to back wins.
From Prince Albert, 16 year old Lehner is in her first year at the SFU18AAAHL level. A rookie in the league, she is in first place among goalies with nine wins. She also sits fourth in SV% (.936), and fifth in GAA (1.81).
Swift Current will hope for some more goaltender magic, while the Bears look to snap a two game slide.
Puck drop in Rosetown from the AGT Centre is at 5:30pm.
@kyle_kosowan•sports@paherald.sk.ca
