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By Ben Tompkins

Seeing Double

Mustangs back in the finals, set for matchup with Red Wings

Apr 19, 2025 | 12:00 PM

The Melfort Mustangs are back in the SJHL Finals, and it all begins on Saturday.

After Melfort swept their second-round opponent, the Yorkton Terriers, last Wednesday, they began awaiting their finals match.

With the Weyburn Red Wings’ overtime win over the Flin Flon Bombers on Monday, the final two teams were set, as they each strive for the Canterra Seeds Cup.

“They’re well-coached, and obviously, they’ve had a successful year. They’re a team that brings a lot of speed that we need to defend, that’s no secret, and they have some forwards that we have to pay attention to, so we have to make sure we play really well on the defensive side of the puck,” explained Mustangs’ head coach Trevor Blevins.

During the regular season, the Mustangs won the head-to-head matchup with the Red Wings 3-1, outscoring them 14-11.

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A very contested series, with similar expectations for the finals that nothing will come easily for either side. An interesting note, however, is that Weyburn’s only win came with Dazza Mitchell in net, who they traded away to the Humboldt Broncos.

So far in the postseason, the Stangs are 8-0-1, a nearly perfect record and according to their coach, very good performances.

“Obviously, you have your ups and downs as you go, but what we’ve been impressed with is that when we need it as a group to reset and respond, we’ve done that. Give full credit to the players, it’s just been unbelievable through all nine games, and we’ve asked them to do pretty much everything that you could ask for, and they’ve just passed with flying colours. They should be very proud of themselves for what’s going on in that dressing room, and hopefully, we can keep it going,” Blevins added.

The question at large is can they keep it going over a long period without playing, as the break for the Blue and Green from Game 4 of the last round to Game 1 this weekend is 10 days.

Heavy practices have been had to continue the game shape and be game-ready, while also giving the players rest to be as fresh as possible for the biggest series of the season.

And as far as special teams is concerned, Melfort seems to have the edge with the numbers, as their powerplay continues to be atop the leaderboard, while the penalty kill sits top three.

The last team to win back-to-back championships, the 2015 and 2016 Melfort Mustangs, while the Weyburn Red Wings haven’t been in the big dance since 2012, and haven’t won since 2001.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8