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By Ben Tompkins

Playoff Matchup

Mustangs, Klippers set for Round 1 meeting beginning Friday

Mar 19, 2025 | 5:28 PM

The Melfort Mustangs and Kindersley Klippers Round 1 Playoff Series is now just two days away, as Melfort will begin their postseason quest in hopes of a title defence.

The number-one-seeded Mustangs enter the playoffs as the defending champions, and statistically, the best regular-season team in franchise history, with a record 46 wins.

“From the start of the year, the guys identified that there was a target on our back, because we’re defending champions, and I thought we handled it quite well. There were many nights where in-game things didn’t go well, but we found a way to get it done, and I was just super proud of how we responded, even after a loss or two or in bad moments, we just found a way to get it done,” said head coach Trevor Blevins.

“It seemed like that was just a testament to the character of our dressing room and our leadership and everyone that’s contributed has done a fantastic job this season. It’s quite a compliment to be able to kind of be at the top, but to stay there the whole year when everyone’s chasing you, it says a lot about what we have in that dressing room, which is special.”

In most categories, Melfort holds the top spot, as they lead the league in points, powerplay and penalty kill percentage, goals against and for, goal differential, most wins in a row (modern era record-tying 17), and of course championship experience.

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According to Blevins, experience brings confidence, although they aren’t letting confidence let them get ahead of themselves.

“‘I’m never a coach that looks too far ahead, never in my coaching career have I ever done that, it’s always about being in the moment, you can’t look in the past and you can’t look too far ahead, it is about staying in the here and now. The guys just did a great job every day of buying into getting better every day as individuals and as a team, and I think that’s been the secret to success,” he added.

“We have big goals the rest of the year, but right now we’re focused on game one, period one, shift one with Kindersley, and we need to control what we can control and worry about our own process. This group has done a great job with the mental toughness of the game, staying focused and doing the right things each day and in each game.”

The Stangs went 4 and 0 against the Klippers this season, outscoring them 16-6.

In three of those contests, the Blue and Green limited Kindersley to just one goal, however, the playoffs aren’t the regular season.

“You’re going to get everyone’s best this time of year and I think one thing we can appreciate and respect about our opponent is that they’re very well coached. They’ve got an excellent group of players who work hard, are tough to play against, defend well, and are very tenacious on the forecheck,” continued Blevins.

“They’re in the playoffs for a reason, and one thing about our league is that you can’t fall asleep. It doesn’t matter where you are in the standings, if you’re in one, you could be on the wrong end of it. Our preparation is that we have to be dialled in and, have that urgency on every shift because it gets much tougher to win in the playoffs. We need to make sure our game is heavy and consistent for 60 minutes.”

Game 1 goes Friday night at the Northern Lights Palace.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8