Klippers Dominate On Opening Night

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Usually you would expect a team to be out of sync at times, maybe a bit sluggish on opening night, well that certainly wasn't the case for the Kindersley Klippers. They were simply put ready to play. All four lines were clicking, defensively the Klippers were sound, and Justin McDonald was stopping whatever was thrown his way. I have to throw in that those new road jerseys were looking slick in the process.

Lets start up front for the Klippers with the line of Mysiorek, Hoffman and Duzan. They really looked like they were in mid season form. Mysiorek was physical and really may have gave the Klippers a lift early in the 1st when he hammered Samborski along the halfboards in the Klippers end. Tough break for the rookie Samborski who didn't return for the rest of the game. Turner would then proceed to start a fight with Mysiorek, a pretty solid fight for both guys, but Turner would get a ten minute misconduct and the instigator sending the Klippers to the powerplay. On the powerplay Duzan would spot Hoffman out in front and he would cash to put the Klippers on the board. In terms of Hoffman, he showed no signs of that wrist injury that plagued him during last years playoffs. In the second period he riffled a beauty that I thought went in at first but it went off the bar.

In terms of another Klipper return, D Jay McGrath suited up for the 1st time since January 21st and he had a solid return. He did a great job quarterbacking the powerplay, and was skating very smoothly showing no ill effects of the injury.

I was very impressed with what I seen from the two newest Klipper fwds who were lined up with Klippers rookie Colby Daniels. These guys look like they had been playing together for years. Dworschak and Rebkowich, both had very solid hockey games. They work hard, have skill and look like they are going to fit right in this season.

The Klippers forwards chased Hildebrand early. Creech would then take over for the Stars and boy did he play good. He made some absolutely ridiculous saves to keep this one close. I would expect him to start tonight for the Stars.

On the back end Casey Rogers was at his best. He had two goals and an apple on the night. He was moving the puck crisply, getting shots through from the point, and really looked confident in his game. If last night was a sign of things to come this season for Casey then look out.

Sticking on the defense Chris Manhas made his Junior A debut. I find it tough to believe that this guy played Junior B last season, he is big, strong and can skate like the wind.

In net Justin McDonald was basically unbeatable last night. What a way to start the season for McDonald who will also get the start tonight. He made some unbelievable saves and was minutes away from picking up the shutout.

In terms of the Stars, they really didn't have a good opening night game but I would expect them to be much better tonight in Kindersley.

I will get to more later this afternoon with a pregame report. It will be interesting to see who the Klippers take out of the lineup for Wheaton King.

Unfortunately we wont be web casting tonight's contest because we have yet to receive our encoder from the new web caster programing. Really disappointed I cant broadcast the home opener but I will be jumping on the Battlefords radio network with Mike Feeney this evening to do some color commentary. More in your pregame report.