The Nipawin Hawks faced off against the Melfort Mustangs Saturday in SJHL action. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Advantage Mustangs

Hawks swept in weekend set with Mustangs

Dec 19, 2021 | 11:00 AM

The Hawks were swept away by the Melfort Mustangs in a weekend home-and-home series that concluded Saturday night in Nipawin.

After Melfort cruised to a 6-1 victory Friday at home, the Hawks were stymied 3-0 in the rematch on home ice. Nipawin Head Coach Tad Kozun, who now has six games under his belt on the Hawks bench told northeastNOW after the game that the club will turn their season around after the Christmas break.

“We’re going to be a different team when we come back from the break,” he said. “These guys need to reset right now and regroup. Go home, regroup, hit their reset button, spend some time with friends and family. Obviously with all the changes that have happened around here it will be good to get out of town, come back refreshed and hit the second half running.”

Saturday’s contest followed a similar path of Friday’s game, the teams went through the opening 20 minutes without scoring but in the second the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead courtesy Curtis Hammond on a powerplay. The goal stood as the game winner. The Mustangs scored three times in Friday’s second period; the club didn’t beat Chase Hamm again until the four-minute mark of the third when Hayden Tuba made the game 2-0 Melfort. Carter Anderson iced the game with an empty net tally late in the game with Nipawin pressing to close the gap. Kozun said despite a second straight loss to their rivals, a team he said he “hates” he’s happier for the players effort on Saturday.

“I thought we played much better, the compete was there. The first goal was a five-on-three goal, you expect teams to score on those, but I thought our penalty killing did a heck of a job tonight, that’s something we can build on. Having them two games before the break and two after we can come up with a game plan and be ready to go,” Kozun said.

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The teams meet again on New Year’s Eve in Melfort and in Nipawin on Jan. 1.

The Hawks will enter the unofficial second half of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season in ninth place, just two points out of the playoffs with still 25 games remaining. Kozun said he’s also looking forward to the break and pushing his team into the post season.

“There’s still work to be done, but it will be nice to take a few days off, regroup, refresh, and make sure I have everything in order for the second half so I’m fully prepared and I can help these guys do anything we can to make sure they are better hockey players but also better humans,” he concluded.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork