Canada West opened things up with a loss at the WJAC last night. I can confirm that Sean Flanagan played last night and also played in the exhibition matchups. At this point it looks like he has earned a spot in the top six , which is great news. According to my WJAC insider , better known as Sean's girlfriend, is that he played very well , felt confident out there and is optimistic about his team despite the lose. Here is the official news release on the game from the hockey Canada website....
PENTICTON, B.C. – Nicholas Steiner scored the game-winner on a power play 1:45 into overtime as Switzerland made its World Junior A Challenge debut a memorable one, earning a 5-4 victory over Canada West on Monday night.
The Swiss took advantage of a delay of game penalty against Canada West’s Dylan Walchuk with just 9.8 remaining in regulation time to earn the victory in front of more than 2,200 pro-Canadian fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Trailing 3-0 entering the third period, Canada West mounted a furious comeback in the final 20 minutes, erasing a 4-2 deficit with 12 minutes to go. Penticton native Mark MacMillan, playing in front of family and friends, scored twice in the third as Canada West rallied to earn a single point.
Winnipeg-born Swiss forward Ryan McGregor got the scoring party started with just over six minutes to go in the first period, beating Canada West goaltender Matthew Krahn, and goals from Raphael Kuonen and Gregory Hofmann pushed that lead to three with goals 4:14 apart late in the second.
Needing a quick start in the third period, Canada West finally got on the board when Travis St. Denis pushed a rebound past Swiss goaltender Lukas Meili just 69 seconds into the frame, and MacMillan drove the net for a rebound goal of his own just over three minutes later to ignite the SOEC crowd.
But before the MacMillan goal could be announced, the Swiss restored their two-goal lead thanks to Matthias Rossi, who snuck a wrist shot from the wing under Krahn’s arm.
MacMillan’s second of the period pulled the Canadian side to within one again, and a gorgeous three-way passing play, finished off by Reed Linaker, brought the crowd to its feet and the game to even terms at 4-4.
With overtime looming, Walchuk inadvertently cleared the puck over the glass, and Steiner capitalized late in the 4-on-3 overtime power play, blasting a slow slap shot past Krahn.
The Swiss will be right back to action Tuesday when they face Russia in the late game (7:30 p.m. PT), while Canada West will have a day to regroup before taking on the Russians in Wednesday’s preliminary round finale (7:30 p.m. PT).
SJHL This Week
Courtesy of the SJHL....
It was not a good week for the top two teams in the Bauer Conference as the Humboldt Broncos and Melfort Mustangs were a combined 0-5. The Broncos tasted defeat in back-to-back road games in Weyburn and Estevan while the Mustangs lost on the road in Melville, La Ronge and the Battlefords. The loss in Melville was one Darrell Mann’s crew wishes he had back as they went into the 3rd with a 3-0 lead on the Millionaires only to see Melville tie it and win it in the shootout.
While the top teams in the conference faltered, a couple of teams made a move. La Ronge moved to within a point of Melfort in the Bauer with a pair of wins, while the Battlefords are showing they may finally be ready to make a move as they won two games in three starts to sit three back of 4th place Flin Flon.
The Ice Wolves weren’t the only team to go through the week unbeaten. Estevan and Melville also did that. For the Bruins, they are keeping the heat on the first place Yorkton Terriers who are ready to return home this Friday after a long nine game road trip. The Weyburn Red Wings are also starting to climb up the ladder as they won a pair of games in three starts as the league proves again that is very competitive from top to bottom with no givens on any night.
The SJHL was front and center in Humboldt on Friday, November 5 as the Class of 2010 for the SJHL Hall of Fame was announced. Getting inducted at the end of the month into the Hall will be Hall of Fame goaltender and Humboldt native Glenn Hall, former Humboldt Bronco Bill McDougall who had one of the best seasons in Canadian Junior “A” hockey history in 1987, former SJHL, WHL and NHL ref Mick McGeough, the 2002-2003 RBC Cup champion Humboldt Broncos and two men who have been very important in the history and creation of the Broncos hockey club—Dr. Gerry Rooney and Dr. Terry Henning. All will be honoured with a banner ceremony at the November 26 game between Humboldt and Melfort with all getting formally inducted the next night at the SJHL Hall of Fame banquet in Humboldt.
SHER-WOOD PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brayden Metz – Melville Millionaires - The 1990 born forward out of Regina helped the Millionaires to a pair of victories in the last week. The Millionaires captain had two goals and three assists in victories over Melfort and Notre Dame as Melville tries to crawl out of the Sherwood Conference basement and get into the thick of things.
SHER-WOOD DEFENCEMAN OF THE WEEK
Brody Luhning – Battlefords Stars – The 1992 born blueliner from Lumsden is one of the top scoring defencemen in the SJHL. He helped offensively and defensively this week as he registered six points on three goals and three assists while helping the Stars to two wins in three games.
SHER-WOOD GOALIE OF THE WEEK
Mitch Kilgore – Weyburn Red Wings – As was the case last week, the 1991 born victories over division leaders Yorkton and Humboldt this week while losing in a shootout to Notre Dame. He allowed just four goals in the three games and had a save percentage of .954 stopping 83 of 87 shots sent his way.
POWER RANKINGS
1. Humboldt Broncos – Even though they did falter this week, the Broncos are still the top team in the SJHL at this moment, but the gap between first and second has shrunk considerably.
2. Estevan Bruins – After going through a rough patch, the Bruins have won their last four and now have first place Yorkton in their sights as they are three points back with four games in hand.
3. Yorkton Terriers – The Terriers have won five games on their nine game road trip with that trip ending Tuesday. Staying on top of the Sherwood Conference after that trip is a huge plus to Trent Cassan’s group.
4. La Ronge Ice Wolves – Winning their two games this week while seeing Humboldt and Melfort lose all of their games have all of a sudden turned a two way race in the Bauer Conference to a three way one.
5. Weyburn Red Wings – The goaltending of Mitch Kilgore over the past two weeks have lifted this team up the power rankings and up the Sherwood Conference ladder. Like La Ronge, the Wings are starting to make it a three team race in the conference.
6. Melfort Mustangs – Darrell Mann’s team goes into the week having lost four in a row, but they get ready to start a four game homestand.
7. Flin Flon Bombers – The Bombers are spinning their wheels right now and can’t get on a roll. That being said, they aren’t on a slide either.
8. Battlefords Stars – Ken Pearson has tinkered with his roster all season long looking for that right mix. Its taken a while and it seems as if the team takes two steps forward and one step back, but they are headed in the right direction. When will they trade one of their goalies and to who?
9. Kindersley Klippers – To quote Paul Simon, this team is “slip slidin away”. The Klippers are a better team than their record shows, but something has gone missing the past couple of weeks.
10. Melville Millionaires – Have the Millionaires figured it out or was last week just a good week? The comeback win over Melfort may be a huge turning point for this squad.
11. Notre Dame Hounds – This team has many returnees from last year and should be playing better hockey. Once they start doing that, look out? Do they need to trade one of their good goalies for a proven scorer?
12. Nipawin Hawks – The good news is the Hawks broke an 8 game losing streak with a win over Kindersley. The bad news is they still come in last this week.
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