Klippers Continue Humboldts Struggles With 7-3 Victory

Klippers 7 - Broncos 3
Well I shall start with a quick recap in this one and then talk about why the Klippers won this game.

The Klippers came out and played in my mind their most complete period of hockey all season long in the first frame. I guess you could say the third period against Weyburn when they scored 8 goals at home back in October might top last nights first period , but I still would say last nights first frame was their best. The Klippers came out firing drawing a few penalties , creating a ton of chances , established a dynamic forcheck and got all four lines rolling early with solid play. Defensively they were great in there own zone aswell only giving up 4 shots the entire period.

In the second the Klippers like they have been so far this season and especially of late , got in some trouble penalty wise in the second. They gave up a goal early on but would get it right back when Taylor Wasden made a nice pass to Tanner Exner who did the rest walking in and scoring a pretty nice goal for the Klippers. After that the Klippers killed off 3 straight penalties against the leagues number one Power Play. The Klippers were basically playing with fire taking a two many men call that gave the Broncos their fourth PP on the period and this time they would capitalize. Moments after the Broncos scored on the PP , a tough break for the Klippers in the offensive zone sent Justin Buzzeo in alone on Alex Peck and he made no mistake to make it 5-3. The Klippers though once again would get it right back when  the big line stuck as Braeden Adamyk potted his second on the night. Calkins and Dommett also added helpers. For Dommett that was his first point since back back from his injury.

After a back and forth second , the Klippers got back to business in the third and controlled the play once again offensively and defensively. D Jay McGrath would score a pretty goal doing what he would say was a lil deke their on the goalie. For D Jay that was his second on the night. Taylor Duzan added his league leading twenty second for insurance with 16 seconds, and that was that.

Overall a great game for the Kindersley Klippers. I mentioned last game after the win against Weyburn that I felt this team showed alot of signs of coming together as a whole and that is exactly what it looked like last night. They got contribution from all four lines , which all played great last night. I certainly don't see any changes coming to the lineup for Fridays game against Melville. All 4 lines are rolling , the back end looks great in their own end and Alex Peck is starting to find his way in net , with his third straight win. The Klippers are a very confident bunch right now and are coming off a very successful homestand that saw them go 4-1-1.

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Onto some roster news. With the Deadline to cutdown looming the Klippers yesterday made their first release. Jeff Bartel a rookie dman for the Klippers was sent to the KIJHL to play with the Creston Valley Thunder Cats. For Jeff Bartel this came as no surprise as their simply just was not room for him at the moment. With the top six geling right now and David Haaf outplaying him for the 7th spot he was in tough. None the less , Jeff Bartel really improved from the start of camp to where he is now and will likely be back with the Klippers come next season to play a more prominent role.

Head coach Larry Wintoneak also hinted to some more activity today as the Klippers want to get down to numbers by tomorrow for the road trip. After the game  Larry Wintoneak said in an interview that he is on the verge of trading the rights to Brett Penner for a player, probably in the next 24 hours. He added that he has received a few bites and that a deal is likely in the next day or so. This is just pure speculation but I would not be surprised to see Larry make a move with the Humboldt Broncos after last nights game. The Broncos have been struggling and have alot of twenty year olds that the Klippers could upgrade from. They are in a situation where they may have to somewhat give up on this year and build for next year when they host the Royal Bank Cup. Pure speculation from my part on that front but we shall wait and see. Larry sheds some more light in the interview below. I will contact Larry Wintoneak after the morning skate to get an update on things this morning. Here are some post game interviews...

Larry Wintoneak

Sanfred King

Alex Peck


Phil Andrews got this interview with D Jay McGrath after the game. He was doing color commentary with me on the webcast tonight and is also my news partner at Mix 104. Talks about his big game and his new snow removal buisness with Johnathon Sonntag.

D Jay McGrath