Evan Bortis is congratulated by Chase Hamm after scoring his second goal of the young Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season.

By Clark Stork

Back-to-back wins

Hawks return home in victorious fashion

Sep 26, 2021 | 7:31 AM

The Nipawin Hawks put on a show for a long-awaited hometown crowd Saturday night picking up a 5-1 win over the La Ronge Ice Wolves.

Coming off a 5-4 win on the road Friday on the opening night of the 2021-22 season, Nipawin jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the back end of the home-and-home series and never looked back cruising to the win.

Rookie forward Dayne Feicht, second-year centreman Brody Wilson, and returning defenseman Josh Morton all scored their first goals of the season in the back half of the opening period generating a great buzz from the 597 fans in attendance at the Centennial Arena. For Feicht and Morton, the tallies were their first in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Wilson scored once in the brief 2020- 21 season.

La Ronge replied in the second period cutting the lead to 3-1 courtesy Jacob Jonkman but that’s all Hawks goaltender Chase Hamm would allow, he made 19 saves for his second straight win on the weekend.

Evan Bortis and Andrew Schaab each netted their second goals of the year in the third to cap the scoring. First-year Hawk Phil Laberge contributed three assists in the victory. The Blainville, Que. product said the team is thrilled with back-to-back wins to start the campaign.

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“We’re pretty happy to sweep them,” he said after the game. “It feels good to get four points right off the bat, it’s a good start to the season. Let’s just keep things going.”

Laberge led the offense on Friday as well scoring his first career SJHL goal and assisted on a trio of others. The 18-year-old has seven points in just two games. He said his teammates deserve some success for his hot start.

“It feels get to have a good start right away, so I get the pressure off my shoulders. The support from the guys has been great, the chemistry is there. I couldn’t do it by myself,” Laberge said.

Nipawin will now prepare for a Tuesday night contest in Flin Flon before another home-and-home series, this time with their archrivals, the Melfort Mustangs next weekend.

Saturday’s home game was the first at the “Cage” since Nov. 21 of last year. The capacity was 150 in that game. The last large crowd at the arena was March 11, 2019, when Nipawin staved off elimination against the Battlefords North Stars in their first-round playoff series prior to the pandemic shutdown.

Laberge said playing in front of fans again was outstanding.

“It was amazing,” he said. “I haven’t played a game in two years almost and just seeing the crowd and feeling their energy was pretty special.”