(Broad Leaf Media/Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

Friday Night Spotlight

Mustangs looking for first win in Nipawin this season

Jan 30, 2026 | 4:01 PM

The Melfort Mustangs will head an hour north on Friday to take on their division rivals, the Nipawin Hawks.

Melfort comes into the contest on a six-game point streak; however, they’ve struggled at the Cage this season, having been outscored 8-0 in two visits on the year.

“We’ve definitely worked on our scoring, and it’s shown because we’ve been winning games consistently recently. Previously, we’ve kind of gotten in our own heads going into the cage, and that’s definitely why we haven’t scored lots. I think with our confidence and our abilities now, and just trusting teammates, we’re going into it knowing we’re going to score, so we’re hoping that we come out with the dub,” explained defenceman Tao Flory.

“After our first win on this streak, our practices started to get way more fun, and everyone showed up to the rink happy to be there. All the guys started to gel more; we’ve started to hang out more at the rink, and outside of practice, and we’ve been way tighter now than we were at the start of the year, for sure.”

With 11 out of a possible last 12 points, the Mustangs have brought themselves back into striking distance of a playoff spot.

Kevin Swanson's trial Oct. 13

Naicam man charged with murder has trial date set

9h ago

Feb. 24, 2022

'You just get used to it': Four years after fleeing war, a displaced Ukrainian reflects on life in Saskatchewan

10h ago

Thefts from rural properties last month

Melfort RCMP looking for theft suspect

10h ago

That, along with the fact that the Stangs are looking to spoil a home celebration for their most-hated rivals this evening, is more than enough motivation to continue to get the job done.

“Blevs (head coach Trevor Blevins) just gave us a huge speech and got us all fired up because there’s been a rivalry there for 25-30 years, so I think we’re all excited to go play. Knowing that we can play with any team in this league, we just beat Battleford on Tuesday, so I think we have all the confidence in the world going in, and we’ll be using that to our advantage, so hopefully, we’ll come out hard on the road,” Flory added.

“The kind of gel we have in our room just speaks to how we’re playing right now. Being a tighter group in any kind of sport just makes it so much easier and makes life way better. It’s honestly more enjoyable to play too when our whole team is gelling, and we’re all having fun outside the rink and at practice. During games when we’re able to laugh on the bench, we play way better, and I think that’s shown for the past couple of games here, so it’s been really good.”

–

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8