Nipawin celebrates their victory in La Ronge Nov. 6. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW staff)

By Clark Stork for northeastNOW

Early Success

Hawks look to stay perfect Tuesday vs. the Ice Wolves

Nov 17, 2020 | 10:11 AM

The Nipawin Hawks will look to keep their early season undefeated record in tact Tuesday when the La Ronge Ice Wolves visit the Centennial Arena.

Nipawin opened the 2020-21 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season on Nov. 6 in La Ronge and skated away with a 7-3 victory. Nipawin scored four powerplay goals in the win. Head Coach Doug Johnson said he expects the Ice Wolves to be a refocused club.

“You’d think but it will come down to discipline,” Johnson said on the Murray Dunn GM postgame show on Saskatchewan’s Beach Radio on Saturday in Melfort. “If we’re disciplined and they aren’t we can do some damage on the powerplay. We didn’t have the success tonight we have had in the past on the man advantage, but we still generated some wonderful opportunities we didn’t score on. It’s going to start clicking and it’s going to be lots of fun.”

The Hawks are coming off a weekend sweep of home-and-home series with the Melfort Mustangs over the weekend and sit atop the early season standings. One key reason for the team’s success is the play of 19-year-old goaltender Ross Hawryluk. The Lloydminster product is 3-0 and sports a goals-against-average of 2.00 and a .933 save percentage. Johnson said Hawryluk has developed immensely since his rookie season last year.

“I think a lot of it is experience. He’s been there, done that. He’s been in the big games; he’s been in the tight games,” Johnson said. “Last year was a bit of a whirlwind for him, he bounced around early and then we got him. We’re very happy to have him. He’s just playing with the poise of a grey hair right now. He’s putting the team on his shoulders. When you put him in the net you know you’re going to win.”

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Brodie Girod played the late game hero scoring with a minute left Friday. Jaxsen Wiebe picked up the game winner on Saturday with just 33 seconds left in the third period. Wiebe said the team is playing well and looking forward to another test against La Ronge.

“It’s really great to beat Melfort in back-to-back games especially in a comeback like tonight. It’s a great feeling and we need to keep it rolling Tuesday,” Wiebe said after Saturday’s match up.

There are approximately 10 tickets left for the game. The Hawks office will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for sales.

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