Its Opening Night In The SJHL : Klippers Pregame Report!

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The puck will officially drop on the 2011/2012 season for the Kindersley Klippers tonight from the Civic Center in Battlefords.

It's been a long offseason after the Klippers were swept out of the playoffs by the Yorkton Terriers in the Sherwood Finals. Tonight the Klippers season officially opens up the same way it did last season with a battle against the North Stars. Last seasons opener was a shootout, but tonight I expect it to be a lower scoring game. Justin McDonald will get the start for Kindersley and I really think he is going to be one of the better goaltenders in the SJHL this season. Battlefords also believes they have their goaltender for the season, in Graham Hildebrand. He started last season in the backup role but has worked extremely hard by the sounds of it to earn the starting position this season and I expect him to also have a solid opening night.

Now with that being said, if either goaltender has and off night then we could indeed see a high scoring game with 2 teams that can certainly have some offensive fire power. Up front the North Stars are lead  by Blake Tatchell, who may just be the best player in the SJHL this season, if not the best he is certainly in the conversation. The Klippers will argue that fact with Taylor Duzan who also has to be thrown into that conversation. Duzan was red hot out the gate last season for the Klippers, and the way he finished up the preseason with an overtime winner over Humboldt I would expect the same. He also has his center man back in the lineup tonight in Jordon Hoffman.

For the North Stars I am very interested to see how Braeden Johnson fairs this evening. It seemed like it took a bit of time for him to adjust to the SJHL game after being sent down by the Blades and then dealt to the Stars at the deadline. He will likly be in the top 6 upfront this year, and certainly has the skills to have a breakthrough season in the SJHL.

Back to Kindersley, a number of rookies will make their Klipper debuts this evening. The one to watch certainly is Colby Daniels, although it's not technically his Klipper debut as he did suit up for one game last season.

 He showed that he can score in the preseason, but will he be able to show his offensive flare in the regular season?

The Klippers were banged up throughout the preseason but tonight they are almost 100% healthy with the exception of rookie Justin Lund. It will be intriguing to see how D Jay McGrath and Jordon Hoffman play after long offseasons of rehabbing.

In terms of tonight's lineup, here is my guess based on lines from practice.

Taylor Duzan - Jordon Hoffman - Jesse Mysiorek
Austin McDonald - Tanner Kissick - D Jay McGrath
Bradley Buckingham - Ryan Elliot - Taylor Wasden
Colby Daniels - Tyler Rebkowich - Craig Dworschak

Extras : Justin Lund, Wheaton King ( yesterday he told me he would not play tonight, if that changes then he will slide in with Kissick and McGrath. )

Defense : I am unsure of the pairings at the moment, I will post them when I see the roster this afternoon.

Goal : Justin McDonald ( as for the backup, not sure who will be the backup tonight )

I will get the full lineup up shortly.

I expect tonight's game to be a playoff like style of game.The intensity level will be high as it's opening night and fuel will be added to the fire with the 2 teams meeting again tomorrow night in Kindersley.

Tonight's radio broadcast will start out at 7:15 with your pregame show. You can catch all the action on 1330/1210 Classic Hits Radio or streaming online via the radio stream at

http://asx.abacast.com/kindersleyklippers-live-32.asx

The link will start working sometime after 7. Click the link and it will start to stream through Windows Media Player.