Kyle Bosch of the Mustangs (Blue) celebrates a goal earlier this year against the Bruins (Grey and Yellow). (Facebook/Broad Leaf Media)

By Mat Barrett

Mustangs Playoffs

‘Defence wins championships’: Mustangs set to meet Bruins in first round of playoffs

Mar 6, 2020 | 9:00 AM

The playoffs have finally arrived in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

On Friday, March 6, things get underway across the league with all four series opening up. In Melfort, the Mustangs look to make the SJHL Final for a second straight year. Standing in their way first, the Estevan Bruins who finished sixth in the SJHL standings with 66 points.

The Mustangs finished the year extremely strong, winning their last three contests without allowing a goal, and winning eight of their last nine contests. Head Coach and General Manager Trevor Blevins said they grew throughout the year, and are peaking at the right time.

“I thought we learned a lot as we went,” he said. “We faced some adversity which is healthy to face going into this time of year. We had lots of opportunities to bounce guys in and out of the lineup, get lots of great experience. So I think in preparation, looking back for what we are going to have ahead of us, we’re very excited and confident with what we have and where we are at.”

Overall, Melfort was 32-17-6-3 on the season, good for 73 points and the third seed in the playoffs. They only allowed 152 goals which is second best in the SJHL, just two behind the regular season champion Battleford North Stars. The Mustangs penalty kill was also second best as they killed off 85.8 per cent of the penalties they took.

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“The cliche is always defence wins championships,” Blevins told northeastNOW. “But it’s so true at this time of the year that you have to be stingy and you have to be hard to play against and take care of your own zone.”

A major cog in that stingy defence is 20-year-old goaltender Shawn Parkinson. Parkinson was excellent all year for the Mustangs, but even more so in the final month of the regular season. The Victoria, B.C. native was 8-2-3 in the month of February, had a 1.57 goals against average, a .958 save percentage, and four shutouts. Three of those shutouts came to finish the year as Parkinson’s shutout streak is almost at 200 minutes without allowing a goal.

On the flip side, Melfort’s scoring touch wasn’t quite as lethal as their defence. Of the eight teams in the playoffs, Melfort scored the least amount of goals in the regular season (182), and their powerplay was eighth best as well at 15.8 per cent. However, Melfort did begin scoring a bit more later in the season. Blevins said they do need to shore up their powerplay just a bit.

“We’re getting some great looks,” he said. “We’d just like to see some more finish on it, but that’s ok. Our setup, the opportunities we’re getting, the effort is there, and the execution is there and that’s the most important.”

As for their opponent, the Estevan Bruins, it’s a familiar foe for the Mustangs as it’s a rematch of last year’s SJHL semi-finals that saw Melfort come out on top in six hard fought games.

Last year’s season series saw Estevan win all four meetings, but this year, things are different. Each team won two contests, one even in each others building. Blevins said the Mustangs will have to combat the Bruins speed up front, and veteran defence core.

“We’re going to have our hands full, like we would with any other team in the league,” he said. “I think one through eight it’s very competitive for the [SJHL], and it’s something to be proud of. It’s going to be an exciting playoff stretch for everyone.”

Statistically, the Bruins finished the year very strong, going 8-2 in their last 10 games to wrap things up. They were somewhat of a slow starting team this season, even sitting on the outside of the playoff picture for a while. However, the Bruins were able to put the pieces together and rise to the sixth seed with a 31-23-3-1 record on the year. They scored the fifth most goals and allowed the sixth least amount of goals as well.

By the Numbers (Regular season statistics):

For the Mustangs, this is their third straight season with home ice advantage in round one and sixth time with home ice under seven seasons under Blevins. Melfort is also looking for their fourth finals appearance under Blevins, and third championship with him as bench boss. Melfort has four titles in their history.

Things get going for the series between Melfort and Estevan on Friday March 6 in Melfort. You can find the rest of the schedule here. Mat Barrett will have play-by-play of every game on Saskatchewan’s New Beach Radio and beachradiosk.ca.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6