Season preview: Hawks strive to win a championship following a bitter end

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Unfortunately, momentum throughout the regular season didn’t carry over to the post-season, as the Hawks fell to the eighth-seed Yorkton Terriers in seven games during the first round of the SJHL playoffs.

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At forward, the Hawks have 10 returning forwards (Jeremy Bisson, Carson Erhardt, Austen Flaman, Brodie Girod, Caleb Grandfield, Josh Lester, Michael Makarenko, Jordan Simoneau, Eric Sorensen, and Jake Tremblay) along with two new, younger faces in St. Brieux local Andrew Schaab and American import Burke Simpson.

Before the Hawks’ final pre-season game against the La Ronge Ice Wolves, they got an additional boost up front with Davis Chorney. He’s a Nipawin local who was a late cut by the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Chorney, the 17-year-old power forward, scored 16 goals and 15 assists in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) with the Tisdale Trojans in the regular season during their Telus Cup national championship appearance. He looks to bring a unique skill set that Johnson desires.

“Physicality and size are huge things; those are pieces that are harder to come by,” Johnson said. “He’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas, has a nice skill set in tight, and he’s willing to learn and get better every day. His first three steps could improve just a little bit, but that comes with age and experience. Knowing how competitive he is, he’s going to work extra hard just to get better every day.

“We don’t have a local kid just to have a local kid. They have to earn their spots like everyone else and Davis had a very good midget career. He played well for us and he’s earned his spot.”

On defence is where things will seem more unfamiliar for Hawks fans. Two defencemen from 2018-19 – Jack Lenchyshyn and Luke Penner – will return for the Hawks blue line, but the rest will be a mix of veterans and youth.

Twenty-year-old Bronson Adams arrived after playing with the Estevan Bruins last season, 19-year-old Max Johnson was acquired from the Humboldt Broncos during the pre-season. Eighteen-year-old Dylan DiTomaso was acquired from the St. Michael’s Buzzers in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. Seventeen-year-old Evan Bortis will make the jump to junior hockey after an impressive offensive season with the Saskatoon Contacts in the SMAAAHL, scoring four goals and 26 assists in 41 games.

Johnson is happy with how the Hawks defence has shaped out, although he admitted there are concerns he and the coaching staff want to work on, as is every year.

“The pieces are in place,” he said. “It’s just making sure we find the right balance of offence and defence with our line-ups. There’s some nice leadership, skill level, physicality, and guys that are pretty smart on the backend. We’ve just got to make sure we get better every day and mold them into how we want to play.”

In goal, two new goaltenders will wear the Hawks’ black and gold, although it’s not the one with previous SJHL experience.

Cody Levesque suited up for one pre-season game before he was traded to the Notre Dame Hounds after the Hawks previously acquired him from the Weyburn Red Wings. Twenty-year-old Justin Vertesi, who has two seasons of Junior A hockey in Alberta and Ontario, and 18-year-old Scott Bird from Michigan. Johnson said no starting goaltender has been named.

“They’ve both shown a lot of ability and we’re happy they’re here,” he said. “As good as our goalies are that’s how good the team is. It’s just getting Scott, who’s young, to understand that. And getting Justin some games and reps, teaching him how we play and adapting to our D zone, and our defencemen and forwards eliminating the odd man rushes and help them out. I think the goaltending is in very capable hands right now.”

The Hawks finished their pre-season schedule with three wins and two losses. Yet Johnson felt his team was flat for most of their games and he didn’t see the dominance he expected from his returning players.

“I think they’re aware that we weren’t incredible happy with many of them,” he said. “We really like some of our new forwards and some of our returners did have great camps. We saw some things we need to work on but the one thing we liked is that the guys are all willing to work hard and get better every day.”

The Hawks will open their regular season at Centennial Arena in Nipawin against their divisional rival Melfort Mustangs on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow