(Photo credit/Broad Leaf Media)

By Ben Tompkins

Thanksgiving Hockey

SJHL’s early season best set for back-to-back battles in Melfort

Oct 6, 2023 | 3:09 PM

The top two teams in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League are set for a weekend battle at the Northern Lights Palace.

The Melfort Mustangs welcome the Weyburn Red Wings to town Friday and Saturday night for a two-game Thanksgiving series.

Currently, the Mustangs hold a record of 4-0, while the Red Wings sit at 4-0-1. Both clubs enter with a four-game winning streak on the line.

“They’re hard to play against, they work hard, watching some videos and seeing what they’ve been able to do here recently, they put a good string together, so it should be a good test for us and a good matchup here coming up,” said Stangs’ assistant captain, Chase Friedt-Mohr.

The two organizations also come together with the top two ranked penalty kills, as well as two of the top four goalies in goals against average (GAA) with at least two games played.

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Friedt-Mohr, who’s a defenceman himself, knows it will be a defensive battle and that his team will need to work hard to put points on the board.

“The big thing with those two goalies is getting traffic in front of them and finding ways to get pucks through for them to deflect or whatever. A big thing is to get eyes in front of their goalie, push up ice, and try and create odd-man rushes.”

This weekend’s action marks the last home games of Melfort’s opening stretch, where five of six were played at the Palace.

The Mustangs will follow this weekend with three of four on the road, so Friedt-Mohr knows the importance of continuing to get wins off the momentum of the crowd.

“You got to make the most of it, being home to start off the season is pretty awesome. We gotta enjoy two more games of it and then hopefully, get two more wins and build on that going on down the road for sure.”

Friday and Saturday night’s action also represent the first time the organization will face the same opponent in back-to-back contests, which will happen next weekend as well when they head to Kindersley to face the Klippers on consecutive nights.

Friedt-Mohr explained that they can’t look at it as a series and still need to take it a game at a time, as anything can happen on any given day.

“Just one game at a time, kind of see how the first game goes and then we can adjust accordingly for how we attack the second game. Just take it one game at a time, one period at a time, and one play at a time.”

Puck drop for both nights is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with the Blue and Green hoping that what they’re thankful for come Thanksgiving Monday is a pair of home-ice victories.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8