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By Mat Barrett

Melfort Mustangs Playoffs

‘It’s a long war’: Mustangs begin push for Canalta Cup against Klippers

Mar 14, 2019 | 2:20 PM

The road to the Canalta Cup begins on Friday, March 15 for the Melfort Mustangs.

The quarter-finals begin in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) as the Mustangs take on the Kindersley Klippers.

The fourth-seeded Mustangs haven’t played since a March 5 loss to Flin Flon in the regular season finale. Melfort finished the regular season with a 37-17-4-0 record, good for 78 points. Head Coach Trevor Blevins called it a successful year.

“First and foremost, the team improved,” Blevins told northeastNOW. “That’s what you want to see through all the regular season games, right from start to finish, and I think we’ve done that as a group, and I think we are ready for playoff time.”

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The Mustangs opponents also had 78 points on the season (36-16-4-2), and were just one goal away from winning the Global Ag Risk Solutions Division as they fell in overtime to the Battlefords North Stars in the March 5 season finale. Blevins said it will be a tough series against the Klippers.

“They’ve got a very good hockey club that we can’t take lightly,” Blevins said. “They’ve got a strong work ethic, a strong defensive system, and they’ve got one of the best goaltenders in the league in my opinion.”

The goalie that Blevins was talking about was Kindersley’s own Justen Close. Close most recently committed to the University of Minnesota in the NCAA, and was named top goalie in the SJHL for the second straight year (split award with Declan Hobbs last season). Close was right near the top in every major statistical goaltending category, and led the league in wins with 25. Blevins said the key to win will be the front of the net.

“Biggest thing for us is that we’re going to have to control the net front at both ends of the rink,” he said. “I think that’s a huge key to the series, getting the goals for, but also given that Kinderlsey is dangerous and have lots of team speed, we’re going to have to do a great job in front of our net also.”

A big matchup to watch for will be Close in net for Kindersley, and Melfort’s dynamic duo of Justin Ball and Carson Albrecht who were named the league’s Most Valuable Player, and RBC Player of the Year respectively. In the six meetings this season, Ball and Albrecht have combined for 28 points against the Klippers. Each has scored five goals, while Ball has notched 11 assists to Albrecht’s seven. Melfort won five of those six meetings, only losing the first matchup of the year to the Klippers back on Sept. 21.

Ball said it’s going to take a lot to win a title, but he believes the team is ready.

“It’s a long battle; it’s a long war.” Ball said. “It takes a lot of effort, and a lot of sacrifice and I think you’ve got to be tough and you’ve got to be cut out for it.”

Game two of the series will be back at the Northern Lights Palace in Melfort on Saturday, March 16, while games three and four will be March 18 and 19 in Kindersley.

Every Mustang playoff game can be heard on CK750.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6