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By Mat Barrett

Run With The Herd

‘One game at a time’: Mustangs ready for first round of playoffs against Terriers

Mar 18, 2022 | 9:48 AM

It’s been over 730 days since the SJHL playoffs have taken place and excitement is building around the league.

In Melfort, the third-seeded Mustangs are getting set to take on the sixth-seeded Yorkton Terriers. It’ll be the first time the two teams have met in the playoffs since 1996 in the SJHL Final where the Mustangs won in five games.

Mustangs head coach Trevor Blevins was an assistant captain for the Mustangs that year who also hosted the national championship.

Mustangs current captain Ben Tkachuk said the team is ready to go for the post-season.

“We’ve been building towards this moment,” he said. “The excitement is pretty high in there and I think we’ve just got to come out and play our game. It should be fun.”

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Melfort finished the season with a 34-15-4-5 record this season, and closed out the year on an eight game winning streak to propel them to a Sherwood Division title.

Tkachuk said getting healthy has been a major contributor to their success as injuries heal heading into playoffs.

Head-to-head against the Terriers, the Mustangs won three out of four meetings, but they last met in early December. Tkachuk said the Terriers have an aggressive penalty kill and play fast, but they know it could be a much different team come Friday night.

“The first ten minutes will be huge,” Tkachuk said. “Kind of feel them out, see how they play, then just work forward from there.”

The Mustangs made the SJHL final in 2018/2019, the last time the SJHL handed out their Canalta Cup, but Melfort hasn’t hoisted the SJHL title since 2016.

Tkachuk said winning a championship would mean a lot for him and the team, but they won’t think too far ahead.

“One game at a time, one period at a time,” he said. “And we’ll keep working from there.”

Game one goes on Friday night at the Northern Lights Palace, while Game two will be Saturday back at the Palace. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. both nights.

You can hear all the action during the playoffs with Tony Degerness and Mat Barrett splitting play-by-play duties.

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matbarrett@melfortmustangs.com

On Twitter: @matbarrett6