Hawks host La Ronge in Tuesday SJHL action
For the second time already this Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season the Nipawin Hawks will host the La Ronge Ice Wolves.
In the home opener on Sept. 21 the Ice Wolves downed the Hawks 3-2. Since then Nipawin has a win and four more losses, the club’s record is 1-6 on the year following a southern Saskatchewan road trip that included three games where Nipawin did collect their first win on Friday in Estevan. Head Coach and General Manager Tad Kozun said the staff learned a lot about the group following the three games where the Hawks were outscored 15 to 7.
“We are obviously excited about getting back on home ice,” he said after the team’s gameday skate. “The nice part about going down south is we learned a lot about our team and things we need to work on and how we power through things. We got a good skate in on Monday and we’re looking forward to hitting the ice at home.”
Featuring the youngest roster in the SJHL and just one 20-year-old and just six returnees the start of the season has been a challenge for Kozun and new Assistant Coach Derek Hutton, but Kozun feels the early season trip was beneficial for everyone’s development this season.