The Melfort Mustangs celebrate their game four win over Estevan. It would be their last game of the season. (Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Mustangs Season End

‘We’ll take it as a successful year’: Mustangs season comes to halt amid COVID-19 concerns

Mar 17, 2020 | 1:19 PM

The Melfort Mustangs ended with a win, but it didn’t end with a Canalta Cup Championship in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

The reason being the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the world. Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League both made announcements last week announcing the cancellation of the rest of their seasons, meaning the Mustangs season would end. Head Coach and General Manager Trevor Blevins said it’s unfortunate, but it needed to happen.

“Yeah we’d rather be playing, but there’s a bigger picture here that we’ve got to be aware of and make sure we keep everyone safe,” Blevins said. “The Melfort Mustangs and the SJHL definitely want that to happen.”

The Mustangs just concluded game four of their first round series against the Estevan Bruins. It ended as a 2-1 win for the Mustangs as they held a 3-1 lead in the series coming back home for game five that was set for Friday, March 13. That did not happen, but it’s still being considered a successful season in Blevins’ eyes.

The team finished with the third best record in the SJHL, had the second least goals against in the regular season, and finished the year with three straight shutouts.

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“Once everyone got healthy and we had some chemistry in our lineup, everyone had a buy in too. Our attitude was great, and work ethic,” Blevins told northeastNOW. “That has lots to do with the leadership, and really all 24 guys came to play every day and supported their role. It was a pleasure to coach, and actually it was very easy to coach.”

Blevins said while nobody will be credited with the Canalta Cup this season, he’s already looking forward to next season, and helping his graduates move on to the next level. He said there’s no point talking about “what ifs” now.

“Did we have a shot at it, absolutely we did,” he said. “But we’ll never know. So we’ll take it as a successful year for our group and we’re looking forward to next year’s recruiting class.”

The Mustangs had nine players graduate this season. That included goalie Shawn Parkinson, defencemen Alex Rondeau, and Nolan Kadachuk, along with forwards Kenzie Arnold, Zach Anderson, Tyson Meyers, Tian Rask, Kyle Bosch, and Austin Nault. That leaves 15 players coming back for the 2020/2021 season. Six of those returning players will be heading into their final year of Junior eligibility.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6