(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Party Spolied

Mustangs lose back-and-forth opener to rival Hawks

Sep 19, 2025 | 11:35 PM

The Melfort Mustangs didn’t start the 2025/26 campaign the way they had hoped, falling to the Nipawin Hawks by a score of 4-3.

It was a back-and-forth affair as no team ever led by more than a goal.

“I think once we were on our game and heavy on pucks, we hemmed them in and controlled the pace of play. If we can figure out how to do that through a full 60 minutes, I think we will have a good year,” explained Mustangs’ forward Bryson Aikens.

“Unfortunately, a couple of times we had some collapses for a few minutes. It’s early in the year, and we just forgot some assignments and stuff like that, so just need to polish some things up moving forward.”

One of the issues was a Melfort penalty kill that allowed three goals on four shorthanded occasions.

Riderville

Now for the Hard Part

Dec 10, 2025

Grey Cup!!!

Everything you wanted and more

Nov 21, 2025

Ferland earns Grey Cup ring

'A wonderful human being': High school coach thrilled Logan Ferland is a Grey Cup champion

Nov 17, 2025

Other factors included a busy night, which saw a championship banner-raising ceremony, numerous alumni in attendance, and players receiving their championship rings.

According to Aikens, however, who had two points on the night, there are no excuses.

“It was as good to have those things going on, and if anything, that should fire us up to go and compete even harder than we would on a regular night. There are definitely no excuses there,” he added.

“There are a lot of learning points, so if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning anything, and you’re not getting better. I think we just need to go over some film, get back on the ice, polish some things up, and we should be good to go by Tuesday.”

The Stangs will next play on Tuesday, when they head to La Ronge to take on the Ice Wolves.

–

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8