(File photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork for northeastNOW

Nipawin Hawks

Hawks get set for home-and-home weekend with Mustangs

Nov 13, 2020 | 11:19 AM

A week has passed since the Nipawin Hawks opened the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season in La Ronge with a 7-3 win over the Ice Wolves.

The team’s home opener last Saturday was postponed due to the blizzard that buried the province. Friday night Nipawin will play their first game at the Centennial Arena since game four of the SJHL quarter-finals on March 11. Head Coach Doug Johnson said his club has lots to build on from the win in La Ronge.

“I felt the powerplay was really good, obviously going in to La Ronge is never easy to do,” Johnson told northeastNOW. “I thought the guys were ready to go as soon as they got off the bus and excited and got a big lead. I don’t think we played our game after getting that 4-0 lead but that’s to be expected. Every time they got a goal we responded so that was nice to see.”

Second year netminder Ross Hawryluk made 34 stops in the victory. The Hawks gave up all three goals while the Ice Wolves were on the powerplay including a pair late. Johnson said big things are expected from the Lloydminster product and game one was a telltale sign.

“They come in on a breakaway and Ross makes two or three outstanding saves, one on the initial chance and our guys get back late because they blew edges and gave up several opportunities. Ross stood his ground, that could have been a huge tipping point in the game. That’s what we need from Ross, when he’s seeing the pucks, he’s stopping them,” Johnson said.

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Last Friday, 19-year-old Quebec product Jeremy Rainville made his SJHL debut. He was a late acquisition after being released from the Vernon Vipers in British Columbia’s Junior A league. Johnson said picking up the former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League winger was essentially a gift.

“I don’t know what happened in Vernon, but the kid is a legit top-six forward in any Junior A rank. He put up 20 some points in the Quebec league last year and there is a lot of Quebec teams that want him this year. He wants to experience different things, we’re excited to have him and he’s going to be a big part of our success,” he said.

The Hawks also got deeper on the blue line with the deal to bring in 19-year-old defenceman Kersey Reich from the Estevan Bruins. Reich put up 14 points including four goals in his rookie season last year. He is expected to make his Nipawin debut Friday night. Johnson said Reich will be a key factor for the club over the next two years.

“We wanted to upgrade our left side, we wanted to get a little bit more grey hair on the backend,” Johnson explained. “We really like what we have back there but thought for us to really make a run we needed to get a little older. We wanted to do it in the 2001 age group, and we wanted a big left-handed shot. I feel Kersey checks a lot of boxes for us.”

The Mustangs have started the season on a strong note. Melfort defeated Flin Flon 3-1 last Friday night at the Northern Lights Palace before routing the Bombers 8-3 on Tuesday. The teams know each other well from playing four pre-season contests against each other, each winning twice. Johnson said the Mustangs will be contenders again this year under the guidance of Trevor Blevins.

“Trevor gets his guys to play well and hard. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are going to be a good team. They may not have the names people recognize but Ethan Regnier will be a leading scorer at Christmas, same as Zack Smith. Both phenomenal players. Their backend is going to very good, they have a lot of guys that have played a lot of minutes and their goaltending will sneak up on people. You have a good backend and good goaltending you will win a lot of hockey games,” he said.

Friday’s game is sold out, but you can hear the game on Saskatchewan new Beach Radio with Mat Barrett. The pre-game show begins at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop slated for 7:30 p.m.

Saturday’s return contest in Melfort will also be on the air at the same time with Clark Stork.

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@melfort-news@jpbg.ca