The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Selkirk Steelers kept home ice advantage in their Anavet Cup series with the Kindersley Klippers on Tuesday night by winning 4-3 in front of a packed house on their own turf. The Steelers now lead the series 2-games-to-1. The score was tied at one after one. It was 2-2 at the end of forty minutes and then the Steelers capitalized with two quick ones early in the third as Kyle Ladobruk scored a shorthanded goal at 2:29 and then James Marquis scored on the powerplay a minute and a half later. Dustin Hughes and Jamie Dowhayko had the other Steeler goals. Jason Fleck got Kindersley to within one with 7:28 remaining; but they would get no closer. Curtis Bazylinski and Jesse Fischer had the other Klipper goals as Bazylinski now has four in the series. Shots were 43-27 in favor of the Klippers. A win is a win, but Selkirk General Manager Ken Petrash wasn't pleased. "That was probably the worst game we've played in the whole playoffs. It wasn't a good game to watch and it was an ugly win for us. I think both teams are tired. They both looked like they had bus legs with yesterday being a travel day and still trying to get some practice time in there. I don't think our ice was very good tonight; and it was warm in the building. I'm sure that had a bit to do with it. It was a sloppy game. Justin Harris has played much better in the playoffs than he did tonight. When we win and we don't get solid efforts from our best guys, that really is a feather in our hat." Petrash adds, "If we are not better tomorrow night then we will not win. It's that simple." Despite the loss, Kindersley Head Coach Dave Hunchak was upbeat. "We played well. I have no complaints with our game tonight at all. We had lots of opportunities, but just couldn't get a bounce. I thought we worked extremely hard and hopefully we'll get those bounces tomorrow night." While the bounces clearly didn't go the way of the Klippers, Hunchak says Selkirk was fortunate as they got one goal from a player with a broken stick and another on a powerplay with Jade Boklaschuk off serving a head butting penalty. "He got caught up in the emotion," said Hunchak. "We had a breakaway at the end of the game with a minute and a half left. We had a long powerplay too. There were more than enough opportunities tonight," reiterated Hunchak. Klipper goalie Nathan Deobald is giving up an average of four goals a game in the series, which is almost two more than what other SJHL teams managed to get in the playoffs. Nevertheless, Hunchak doesn't appear to be contemplating a move to Kevin Dziaduck. "I don't think we have to. The goals they are getting are not Deobald's fault. They were throwing pucks at the net and they were hitting skates and getting redirected. You can't fault a goaltender on things like that." "I really don't think we'll change a thing. We were physical tonight and we'll come right after them again tomorrow. Basically, everybody is tired at this point. That's not an excuse at all. We are tired, but it doesn't matter. That's just the way it is. I'm sure they're tired over there." The Klippers escaped game three without any major injuries. Eric Schwabe, who was taken out of game two after getting checked, played sparingly in game three. Selkirk played the game without Head Coach Doug Stokes behind the bench. He served a one game suspension after picking up a game misconduct at the conclusion of game two. Bill Brenton and Brian MacDonald did the honors.
