Tisdale Trojans defenceman Jeremy Hancock with his mother Tracie after his team's Western Regional championship win in April 2019. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Trojans Mother's Trip

Trojans hoping for a sweep during first annual mother’s road trip

Nov 16, 2019 | 12:05 PM

The Tisdale Trojans will have up to 19 extra fans during their weekend road trip in North Battleford.

It’s the Trojans’ first annual mother’s road trip, where the Trojans’ mothers will sit in the bleachers wearing their sons’ jerseys during their two games against the Battlefords North Stars, followed by mother-son dinners and gift exchanges.

Dennis Kubat, Trojans head coach, credits their billet coordinator Stacey Simpson for running with the idea.

“We thought it would be a great gesture to get the boys with their mom’s for how much they’ve supported them throughout their hockey careers,” Kubat said. “Hopefully it’s something we can continue to do.”

Mother-son visits aside, the Trojans’ weekend series against the North Stars is a crucial one. The Trojans are three points ahead of the Stars with both teams having played 16 games. A split series means both teams stay the same distance within one another for the eighth and final post-season position, but a series sweep could result in the Trojans creating a wide gap between themselves and the Stars, or they could fall behind them in the standings.

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Having played one game in 12 days – a 5-4 shootout win over the Beardy’s Blackhawks – Kubat said the Trojans are feeling rested and confident going into the road trip. He added he and assistant coach Daven Smith have emphasized the importance of this series.

“There will be no excuses,” he said. “It’s more just along the lines of how we’re playing as a team. We don’t look too much at the standings right now; it’s more of continuing to get better. If we can continue to improve it’ll help our chances to go up the standings.”

The Trojans have won six of their previous seven games after losing seven straight early in the season. Kubat believes the Trojans’ rookies getting more experience throughout the season has helped steady the ship.

“Bringing in 14 new faces takes a little bit of time to get up to speed and now we’re starting to see different results,” he said.

A key reason for the turn of success has been the Trojans mixing their veterans and rookies throughout the line-up.

Fifteen-year-old forward Carter Briltz has moved up to play with final-year players Trenton Curtis and Mackenzie Carson. Briltz has nine points (four goals and five assists) over his last seven games compared to one assist in his first nine.

Kalen Ukrainetz, the Trojans’ captain and leading scorer, has been partnered with 16-year-old Noah Wills and 15-year-old Kylynn Olafsson. The trio have combined for 22 points (nine goals and 13 assists) over the previous six games.

Full roster coming back soon?

The Trojans are expecting to have defenceman Drayton Hvidston back for the two games in the Battlefords after missing five games with an injury, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be the only one returning soon.

Kubat said centre Keagon Little and defenceman Cole Tanchuk, both rookies, could return within a week if all goes accordingly. Both players have been practicing in non-contact jerseys.

Little, 16, got off to a hot start in his Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) career with seven points (three goals and four assists) in eight games. Tanchuk showed creativity from the blue line with a goal and two assists in eight games.

The Trojans play the Stars on today at 7:30 p.m. at the North Battleford Civic Centre, before the rematch on Sunday at 2 p.m.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow