The Hawks and Red Wings will go toe to toe twice in a week starting Friday in Nipawin in SJHL action. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Keep building

Hawks welcome Red Wings for first time in 2025

Feb 14, 2025 | 1:01 PM

The Nipawin Hawks and Weyburn Red Wings face off on Friday for the first time since October at the Centennial Arena.

The two Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) teams met over a two-week span in October with Weyburn winning both games by a combined score of 15-3. The rosters of both teams have changed since, but Hawks Head Coach Tad Kozun knows his group needs to play well with the third-ranked Red Wings in town.

“We just have to play like we have been,” he said. “We played really well against Flin Flon, we played well against Melfort, and we have to do the same thing against Weyburn. They are a team that can score a lot of goals, so we must be good defensively. We need to make sure to defend the middle of the ice, make sure we are on top of their options, and we will be just fine.”

Nipawin is coming off a 4-3 road win on Tuesday in La Ronge. The club has climbed into a tie for 11th in the SJHL standings with Notre Dame and has five points in their last four games including a win over Flin Flon and a shootout loss to Melfort last weekend at home. Kozun said his short-staffed roster is working hard to improve.

“It’s a testament to these guys and the effort they are putting in every single day is paying off for them right now.

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Nipawin has Notre Dame in town on Family Day Sunday. Kozun said the group can’t look ahead for the Hounds, but the win on the road Tuesday started another potentially positive week for the Hawks.

“We must keep building it, this is all part of where we want to get to. We’ve got to keep putting in the work, this is all building a group and making sure we can find consistency and keep improving every day,” Kozun concluded.

Puck drop is 7 p.m. at the Centennial Arena.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com