The Hawks and Red Wings will faceoff Monday in Weyburn for game six of their first round SJHL playoff series. (Image Credit: Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Win or go home

Hawks face must win matchup in Weyburn

Mar 30, 2026 | 11:38 AM

The Hawks are in Weyburn Monday facing elimination from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) playoffs for the first time.

Nipawin lost game five 6-1 at the Centennial Arena on Saturday night giving the Red Wings a one game lead in the series and a chance to move on at home. Hawks Head Coach Tad Kozun said he is confident in his group to force a game seven back at the ‘Cage.’

“We’ve got to have that focus,” Kozun said after the team worked out at the Weyburn rink. “Going back to Saturday night [game five where the Hawks had 22 shots on goal but trailed 1-0] we’ve got to get back to playing like that because that was a lot of fun to watch. Now we are in that situation where obviously it’s must win. We’ve got to go out there and play our game an execute. There is no panic from us right now, we’ve been preparing for this all year. We knew things wouldn’t be easy and we knew it would be hard. We just must embrace it.”

The start will be important for Nipawin; the Hawks have scored the first goal in the series just once in the five games and been forced to play from behind for most of the matchups. Kozun said getting a lead in important.

“Yeah, getting that first goal would obviously be huge. We need a good start and make sure we are managing our emotions and not trying to do too much. We’ve got to stick together, play as a team, and that’s ultimately what it’s going to come down to. I like this group, we believe in them, and they need to have it too,” Kozun said.

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Faceoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Whitecap Resources Centre. The pregame show on 750 Beach Radio will start at 6:45 p.m.

If Nipawin wins and forces a game seven, that will be played on Wednesday at the Centennial Arena.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com