The Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers played two games this past weekend at the Kinsmen Arena.
On Friday they hosted the visiting Estevan Apex Bruins while the second place Regina Vics paid a visit to Yorkton on Saturday for a first versus second showdown.
Friday
The Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers came into Friday night's game full of confidence, having won their first five games to open the 2014/15 SSMHL Midget Division season.
That confidence, according to head coach Noel Budz, may have turned into complacency however, as the visiting Bruins scored three times in the second period and added another in the third while Yorkton could muster just one goal of their own off the stick of Josh Rohatynsky in a 4-1 loss.
"Five straight wins, maybe we just overlooked Estevan for this game," offered Budz. "The word might even be a little bit complacent. Take nothing away from them (Estevan), they were focused tonight for sure and we weren't."
Alex Geddes took the loss for the Kinsmen Terriers, his first of the season, while Estevan's winning netminder was Landon Audet.
Saturday
The Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers might have been overconfident and slightly complacent heading into Friday night's 4-1 loss to Estevan, but they were certainly not overconfident or complacent in Saturday's game against the second place Regina Vics.
The Yorkton powerplay went 3-for-7 on the night with one powerplay goal in each period as the Kinsmen Terriers won the top of the table battle 5-2, improving their record to 6-1-0 in the 14-team SSMHL Midget Division and handing the Vics their first loss of the season.
The league's leading scorer Tayon Metzler got things going early on for Yorkton, beating Vics goalie Matthew Lenz on the powerplay to give the Kinsmen Terriers a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest.
Captain Kholten Shewchuk made it 2-0 Yorkton with 6:30 remaining in the frame when he put his first of two on the night past Lenz to round out the first period scoring.
Shewchuk was back at it in the second period, once again putting the puck past Lenz, this time via the powerplay to make it 3-0 Yorkton.
The three goal lead was very short lived however, as Vics leading scorer Isaac Sandomirsky took the puck up the ice and snapped it past Carter Park to make it 3-1 just 17 seconds after Shewchuk's second of the game.
The Kinsmen Terriers then ran into penalty trouble, taking three penalties at once, a double minor for a hit to the head and a slashing penalty, both to Rohatynsky, while AP call up Caeden Durocher was also sent to the sin bin for two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Vics a great opportunity to get right back into the game.
But Jorie Dull, Brendan Dzuba and the rest of the Kinsmen Terrier penalty killing corps made sure that would not happen, skillfully killing off the Vics powerplays to ensure the Terriers carried a 3-1 lead into the third period. "We've got the best four PK'ers in the league," boasted coach Budz following the game. "They did a great job with 12 straight minutes of penalties, which is a hard task to do especially since their powerplay is a very good powerplay.
"I'm very proud of the boys."
A Hunter Arnold powerplay goal midway through the final frame made it 4-1 for the Kinsmen Terriers before late powerplay goal for the Vics off the stick of Dennen Blanchard cut the lead to 4-2.
Yorkton's Brodie Ottenbreit made sure that was as close as the visitors would get however, as he fired the puck into the empty net with just 41 seconds remaining in the game to round out a 5-2 Yorkton victory.
After the game, Budz told Yorkton This Week that some of his fellow coaches had named Yorkton the team to beat this season, much to his surprise. "At the scheduling meeting there were guys saying to us that they thought we were going to be the team to beat this year and I wasn't sure where they had gotten that data from," laughed the Kinsmen Terrier coach. "But we have a bunch of guys that all can play.
"They all contribute and work hard and when we all work hard and we're physical, then we're a team to beat."
Next action
The next action for the Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers will be Halloween night, Friday, October 31 when the Notre Dame Bantam Hounds come to town for a 7:45p.m. game at Yorkton's Kinsmen Arena.
