The Nipawin Hawks try to clear a puck in front of goaltender Nolan McDowell Saturday at the Elgar Petersen Arena. (Photo/Becky Zimmer/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

SJHL Hockey

Hawks split home-and-home series with Humboldt

Sep 4, 2022 | 1:00 PM

The Nipawin Hawks and Humboldt Broncos each picked up home ice victories in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) preseason play this weekend.

On Friday at the Centennial Arena Nipawin picked up a 6-4 victory on the strength of a pair of goals by Francis-Xavier Bedard and Joel Mabin. Rylan Lefebvre and Finley Radloff also chipped in with singles. Saturday the teams met again in Humboldt and the Broncos were victorious by the score of 4-1. Hawks Head Coach Tad Kozun said he liked what he saw from his team.

“I thought it was good, Friday night we went a little bit more vet heavy and got to see some really good things at home,” Kozun said after Saturday’s game. “Today we came in a little younger and got to see some things we wanted to see too. There’s still lots of decisions to make with how many guys we’ve got.”

Harmon Laser-Hume started Friday’s contest and was relieved halfway through by Nolan McDowell. McDowell started Saturday’s game in goal, he was spelled by Reid Lalonde in the second half. McDowell allowed only one goal in his three periods of total action. Kozun said there was several bright spots for Nipawin despite the loss.

“I thought some guys showcased themselves really well and showed they want to be Nipawin Hawks. We got to see a lot of good things. Obviously, its preseason so we don’t take a lot out of the results. We need to stick to our process and get better every day,” Kozun added.

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Next up for the Hawks in a trip to Melfort to meet the Mustangs on Labour Day Monday at the Northern Lights Palace. Nipawin will conclude their exhibition schedule on Friday, Sept. 9 at home against Melfort. Kozun said the staff will need to make some tough decisions this week.

“Obviously guys will be leaving town after we make some decisions while looking forward. We need to stick to the process, doing the right thing and making sure we’ve got the right guys for the Nipawin Hawks,” he said.

Faceoff on Monday is 7:30 p.m.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork