First off I had a ton of fun this road trip. It was a long one that saw the Klippers play 4 games in 5 nights and wrap up with a great weekend at the SJHL showcase.
I got a chance to watch bits and pieces of a few games and of course call the two Klipper games and I must say the hockey that was on display this past weekend was awesome. So many great games , so much intensity and it felt like a playoff atmosphere. Weyburn did a great job at hosting the event and from everyone I had a chance to talk to , really enjoyed it. Good to see a bunch of the parents make it out aswell. Thanks to Johnny Calkins parents again , this time for bringing all the boys and I a bunch of healthy snacks back to the hotel room.
Ok now on to the action. I didn't get a chance to post a recap from the Klippers loss to the Battlefords on Friday night so here is a short recap , I will get to the win Saturday shortly. The Klippers came out flying in that hockey game and had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes which likely should of been a bigger lead with some of their high quality scoring chances. In the 3rd period the wheels kinda fell off after Johnothon Sonntag made a bone crushing hit and ended up getting a 2 minute penalty for hitting to the head and then got tossed after a fight. First on the hit , it was clean in my mind , the player had his head down , and of course when a player that is 5 " 8 has his head down , with a 6 " 3 dman stepping up like Sonny did , its gonna look a bit ugly. It was in my mind a solid hockey check. None the less they called it a 2 minute penalty and a ten minute misconduct , but that really wasn't the factor that turned things around for the Klippers. After the hit Sonntag got basically attacked and was forced to drop the gloves. It should of clearly been a instigator and it was not called which had Larry Wintoneak and the rest of the Klippers livid and rightfully so. So after that the Klippers lost one of their top dmen and then had to kill a penalty. Alot of the players were frusted and somewhat got away from playing their game and the wheels fell off. Battlefords started to control the play and would cruise to a 5-2 victory.
Onto Saturdays game , the Klippers decided to break up their number one line of Dommett, Calkins and Adamyk. The line has not been clicking as well as everyone expected but I feel it will come and they just need a few more games. A change for a game or two might help these guys, I think its only a matter of time until they will be back together and I am thinking they likely will be back reunited Thursday against the Hounds.
In terms of the game , wow what a great hockey game. It was probably the game I had the most fun calling all season long thus far despite it being a goaltenders duo. Both goalies were great in Cahill and Musico , but Musico was out of this world good on Saturday morning. The Klippers were firing bullets at him all game long and most of their action came in the 2nd period. Think back to last seasons NHL playoffs with Jaroslav Halak taking on the Washington Capitals in the first round, that's how good he was. The Klippers had a ton of great chances but it was just amazing save after amazing save. It looked like Musico was going to steal this one for the Bombers but late in the third period , D Jay Mcgrath was working hard along the wall and ended up drawing a penalty. The Klippers would pull Cahill for the extra attacker and have a 6 on 4 powerplay with 1:39 left in the third. They would get set up down low where Sanfred King controlled behind the net. Kinger would dish it out to the left side circle were Braeden Adamyk would set up and unload a wicked wrist shot that was placed short side top corner just under the bar with perfection. The shot was a thing of beauty and it took a shot like that to beat Musico the way he was playing. Adamyk has scored a ton of key goals for the Klippers this season and he added another one to his impressive stat sheet thus far this season. So we were off to overtime. The Klippers were 1-0 in OT against the Bombers so far this season. It looked like the Klippers were going to lose the hockey game in OT when Taylor Duzan took a high sticking penalty in OT. A tough call for Duzzy as it was unintentional but it was a penalty. The Bombers set up nicely and had a great chance when they went cross ice to Stillar who had a chance for the empty net one timer but couldn't control the puck. They worked it back to the point where Korchinski controlled it , he bobbled the puck once and Hoffman went towards him at the point where he then bobbled it again and Hoffman stepped up and was off to the races. Hoffman made a beauty move faking the shot going backhand then forehand to slide it in past Musico to win the hockey game. The game was awesome and the result for the Klippers was great. They didn't let up and fought back to win a tough hockey game. The Bombers are a great team and were the hottest in the league winning 7 in a row. Now I have said it before that at times a big win , or Andrew Dommetts return might be the season changer for the Klippers but this time I truly do believe it. A win like that , the way the Klippers played , the way they battled back and won in Overtime certainly could be a season changer.
A few more things. After the win there were a ton of scouts talking to certain Klipper players and a few could likely end up getting scholarships in the near future. Their is nothing finalized of yet but a few players were really impressive for the Klippers and would certainly deserve a scholarship. I wont mention names of course until something is finalized.
A final note on Alex Peck. I am sure by now alot of your figured it out that Alex Peck was indeed released by the Klippers to get down to 23 players by the December 1st deadline. I didn't want to announce anything until we returned home as Alex Peck was told the news on the trip and was still with the hockey club. He handled the situation like a professional. He was a great kid and its sad to see him go. I wish Alex the best of luck and I know he was very close with alot of the players on the team during the short time he was here. A tough situation for the guy and I know he will end up on his feet somewhere , hopefully soon than later. Good luck Pecker.
It feels good to be back but I had a great time this past week on the road. It was a long road trip but a ton of team bonding , everyone is back in high spirits and we will see if the Klippers can turn things around , they are right in the mix of things in the Sherwood Standings. Next action is Thursday at home when they host the Notre Dame Hounds.
Here is a few interviews with the OT goal scorer Jordon Hoffman and also Johnny Calkins.
Johnny Calkins
Jordon Hoffman
Hi Brenden,
ReplyDeleteI am not here to criticize your broadcasting abilities because I have listened to your calls and I feel you do a fine job. However, I would like to make a small complaint to you.
Sources tell me you were criticizing a fellow broadcaster for pronouncing McGrath name as McGarth the other night. I can see how he made the mistake because the program in Weyburn had the spelling wrong.
And then made me think back to a broadcast I listened to awhile back where you mispronounced the first name of Rhys Thomas and the last name of Ryan Whitell as well as calling Mitch Kilgore, Kirkham all night.
My point is - if you are going to mock another broadcaster - be careful that you are not making the same kind of mistakes yourself.
SJHL fan
Thats understandable but I was not the one criticizing some one saying Mcgraths name wrong.
ReplyDeleteSomeone had brought that to my attention and to be honest I dont even remember who it was that had told me that. Anyways no offense taken.
Dear SJ Fan,
ReplyDeleteBrenden is right - he wasn't the one mocking the broadcaster, in fact the point was not to mock the announcer but to point out that it would be great if LiveSports could have all the kinks worked out of their broadcasts so each team's announcers could be the voice you heard during the video portion of the game. All of the SJHL announcers do a good job and we are all fortunate that these folks give up a great deal of their time to cover these games. Class dismissed.