The Yorkton Sherring Gold Peewee 'AA' Terriers kicked off their 2014/15 season by hosting their home tournament this past weekend, welcoming five teams from across the province and two more from Brandon for a three day event.
Pool 'A' saw the Terriers joined by the Humboldt Broncos, Melville Millionaires and Brandon Minor Wheat Kings while Pool 'B' included the Estevan Westmoreland Bruins, Weyburn Youngfellow Wings, Melfort Mustangs and Brandon Wheat Kings.
The host Terriers opened up tournament play on Friday afternoon at Yorkton's Kinsmen Arena with a game against their Highway 10 rival Melville Millionaires, soundly defeating the Mils 6-1 on the strength of a solid team effort to move to 1-0 in tournament play.
Yorkton's next game saw them match up against the powerful Humboldt Broncos, also 1-0 after dismantling Brandon Minor 9-1, in a Friday evening game that would eventually decide the Pool 'A' champion.
Humboldt, well aware that the peewee Terriers are the defending SSMHL and Provincial champions, took the play to the Terriers, doubling up the host club 6-3 in a game that Yorkton head coach Ryan Hoffman felt was his club's weakest effort of the tournament. "We definitely didn't bring our 'A' game," said Hoffman following the Friday evening loss. "It was a little disappointing but Humboldt's a real good, strong team and I'm sure we'll cross paths with them again sometime."
The loss evened the peewee Terriers' record at 1-1 after the first day of the tournament and sent them into their final round-robin game on Saturday afternoon at the Farrell Agencies Arena against Brandon Minor in dire need of a win should they want to compete for the 'B' side championship.
A win was what was needed Saturday afternoon and a win is what was on the menu as the peewee Terriers survived a Brandon Minor scare to win their final Pool 'A' game 7-4.
The win gave the Terriers a 2-1 record and second place in the pool behind undefeated Humboldt and ahead of both Melville (1-2) and Brandon Minor (0-3) and a date with the Weyburn Youngfellow Wings (Pool 'B', 2-1) in the 'B' side championship game.
The 'B' side championship game saw the Terriers outwork and outplay their peers from Weyburn resulting in their third win of the tournament, this time 5-1, the 'B' side title and a little bit of a smile from coach Hoffman. "I thought the game against Weyburn was a real good effort," said Hoffman of the effort of his club in their final game of their home tournament. "Weyburn has a real good team and they'll be one of the tougher teams that we'll face in our league this year so it was good to put in a strong effort against them.
"It was good to end the tournament with a win."
Preparation for success
The Yorkton Sherring Gold Terriers no doubt put forth a strong effort in their home tournament going 3-1 and winning the 'B' side title. What's more important, however, is the fact that the defending league and Provincial champions improved throughout the weekend and developed some chemistry all throughout the lineup. "It was our first four games of the year and we wanted to use it as a bit of a measuring stick to see where we were at on a few things," suggested Hoffman. "We wanted to kind of see who worked well with who and I think we did learn that over the course of the weekend."
Hoffman also said he used the tournament to see which players would lead the team, both offensively and defensively. And while he believes his team will be potent offensively all throughout the lineup, Hoffman feels that two players in particular, second year peewee veterans Ryder Korczak and Jackson Berezowski, will be the main offensive threats this season. "Ryder Korczak and Jackson Berezowski, they're sort of the two straws up front that stir the drink and they're two legitimate number one centres with some firepower," said the peewee Terrier bench boss, adding that the rest of the team can also chip in offensively when needed to.
But while the Sherring Gold Terriers have a very potent offence, Hoffman believes it also has a very capable blueline should the forwards make the occasional mistake. "Our d-core, they're not real flashy but they all handle the puck pretty well," said Hoffman. "We've got some bigger bodies and some stronger bodies back there that shoot the puck well and we've got five players that can play in all situations so we're pretty comfortable with how we are at the back end."
As strong as the Sherring Gold Terriers offence and defence will be in the 2014/15 season it's between the pipes where Yorkton really stands out. That's because their two netminders, first year 'AA' Terrier Kael DePape and returnee Spencer Welke (11-1-0, three shutouts last season), are both more than capable in net. "Both of our goalies are two of the top goalies in the league," offered Hoffman, continuing, "so we're confident in both guys on any given night and for the most part playing time will be pretty much split down the middle for them."
Next action
The Yorkton Sherring Gold Peewee 'AA' Terriers will open regular season play this upcoming weekend when they travel to Estevan for a pair of games, Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12 at Affinity Place.
The first home action for the Sherring Gold Terriers will be the weekend of October 18 and 19 when they welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors to town.
