The Yorkton Harvest jumped into the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League playoff picture after their huge 3-2 win over the Notre Dame Argos on Tuesday, December 18.
The Harvest came out flying, outshooting the Argos 17-3 in the first period.
"I told the guys we needed to come out of the gate strong," says Harvest head coach Jeff Odgers. "It was our last game before Christmas, so I kept on telling them just 60 minutes until Christmas. All we need to do is put in a strong 60 minutes."
Harvest winger Donavon Lumb scored the first goal of the game on the power play at 12:16 in the opening period.
Chase McKersie put Yorkton up by two just 15 seconds later, knocking the wind out of Notre Dame.
"It was a huge goal," says Odgers on the McKersie marker. "It gave us a cushion lead and really swung the momentum in our favour. I think we kind of caught Notre Dame off guard with that goal. They didn't expect us to score two that early in the game."
Logan Herchak, 17, scored his 10th on the season to put the Harvest up by three at the 8: 44 mark.
On only their third shot of the period, 15-year-old forward Angus Scott put the Argos on the board at 6:29 to close out the first period's scoring.
No one lit the lamp in the second period with the shots being 5-4 in favour of the Harvest.
The Harvest started to lose their handle on the contest in the third period when Argos forward Brett Radford notched a marker at 11: 27.
"I think we started to not chase pucks as hard later in the game," says Odgers. "When you have a big lead it is easy to take it for granted."
Notre Dame went on to outplay Yorkton in the final period, outshooting them 8-4.
But Harvest puck-stopper Carson Bogdon made several key saves, helping his squad capture their 10th win on the season.
The win broke a long losing streak in the Duncan McNeill Arena. The Harvest went 0-4 in the Wilcox-based rink against the Argos and Notre Dame Hounds this year prior to their recent triumph.
"It is nice to break that losing streak," says Odgers. "When you start losing a lot in a building, it starts to get in your head. We've really struggled in Notre Dame as of late. It is nice to turn a new page and beat them for once."
Odgers partially credits the win to his squad carrying over momentum from their previous 3-2 victory against the 18-5-2-0 Prince Albert Mintos on Dec. 16.
"I think we definitely had some momentum going into the game because of our big win over Prince Albert," he said. "Whenever you beat a team high in the standings, you feel good about yourself for the next little while."
The Harvest went into their Dec. 16 game against the Mintos with a chip on their shoulder. They not only were beat 6-2 by Prince Albert the day before, but there were also rumors that Mintos head coach Ken Morrison may have talked down the Harvest heading into their back-to-back games.
"After we beat the Mintos the first time in their own barn (on Oct. 28), there was some chatter that he (Ken Morrison) may have said something," says Odgers. "I don't know for sure what exactly was said, though. I don't know if the boys knew much about it or not. But it never feels good to be disrespected if that was the case. You always want to prove people wrong when they count you out and underestimate you."
The 10-13-2-2 Harvest is now sitting in eighth spot in the league. They jumped over the 9-9-4-1 Saskatoon Blazers and are now only one-point back of the Argos for seventh spot.
One has to keep in mind the Blazers have played four-less games than the Harvest, though. Therefore, it shouldn't be that tough for them to leapfrog back over Yorkton.
Nevertheless, the Harvest has their fate in their own hands. They have 17 games remaining after their Christmas break, including two against the Blazers and one against the Argos. Precedents suggest 40 points is enough to enter into the second season. So an 8-9 second-half record should be enough for Yorkton to make the playoffs.
"We think we can get it done," says Odgers. "We had a rough start, but we've been hot as of late."
Odgers is spot on about his squad being on a roll as of late. The Harvest went 4-2-2 throughout December and went 2-1-1-0 in their final four games in November.
Coincidentally, the Harvest would play the first-place Mintos if the playoffs started tomorrow. There are pros and cons to playing Prince Albert in the post-season. Obviously, having defeated the Mintos twice this year, the Harvest would go into the series knowing they are up against a beatable team. But on the other end of the spectrum, it seems quite unlikely the Mintos will underestimate Yorkton for a third time this season. Therefore, Prince Albert would likely come out of the gate flying with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.
The Harvest returns to action on Jan. 5 against the Tisdale Trojans in the Farrell Agencies Arena.
