Sherwood Division teams could once again find themselves competing for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League championship.
The Nipawin Hawks posted the SJHL’s best record in the 2017-2018 regular season. They were fourth in the country in the final Canadian Junior Hockey League top 20 rankings for this season. The Melfort Mustangs lifted the Canalta Cup in 2015 and 2016. They were ranked 14th in the last national rankings. The Flin Flon Bombers are looking to get back to the Canalta Cup finals for the third straight year. The team finished the SJHL season in ninth place but has been strong since the Christmas break.
“I want to have a good postseason this year,” said Bombers captain Ben Lanfermann, who is in his third and final season with the team. “We have come up short the last two years so it just makes me want it that much more in my final year.”
Goaltenders can make a big difference in the playoffs and the Bombers definitely have a good one in veteran Brenden Newton. The 20-year-old from Medicine Hat won seven playoff games in 2016 as a rookie. He earned three victories last season while combining with Zac Robidoux to backstop the Bombers to their second straight finals. Flin Flon also has a strong top line in Nate Hooper, Brandson Hein, and Chrystopher Collin. The Bombers will open the playoffs in a wild card series.
After having the league’s best regular season record, including 43 wins after the final game of the season, the Hawks await their opponent. In 30 straight games, from Nov. 10 to Feb. 17, the team earned at least a point. Nipawin featured prominently in the SJHL’s post-season awards. Doug Johnson was named Coach of the Year and Josh McDougall was recognized as the IBAS Top Defenceman. Declan Hobbs shared the SaskTel Top Goaltender award with Kindersley’s Justen Close. McDougall paced the team with 74 points, while Brandan Arnold had a team-high 31 goals to finish the season.
With 39 regular season victories in 58 games, the Mustangs finished with the league’s third best record. With the division champions getting the top three playoff spots in the quarterfinals, Melfort will be the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Humboldt. The Broncos feature goalie Jacob Wassermann, who shared the DirectWest Rookie of the Year award with Weyburn’s Cade Kowalski.
The Mustangs are 8-1- 1-0 against the Hawks this season. Defenceman Loch Morrison led the Mustangs with 67 points. The former Western Hockey League player was big in his lone SJHL season for the Mustangs. He took home five awards, including Most Valuable Player, from the team’s awards night.
The defending SJHL champion Battlefords North Stars had the second best record in the league under new head coach Brandon Heck. They won the Global Ag Risk Solutions Division and were ranked 13th in the last national poll.
Veteran forward Layne Young was named the league’s SGEU most valuable player and the RBC Player of the Year. He ended the year with 107 points. Young is the first SJHL player to crack the 100-point plateau since the La Ronge Ice Wolves duo of Marc-André Carré and Travis Eggum accomplished the feat in 2010- 2011. By the end of the season, the North Stars had 229 goals and Young had factored into 107 of them.
Estevan won the Viterra Division and, as the No. 3 seed, will take on No. 6 Nipawin. Notre Dame, Weyburn, and Melville also made the playoffs. That trio and Flin Flon will get the SJHL postseason started with best-of-three wild card series this week.
