The Yorkton UCT Terriers dominated the Saskatchewan Bantam 鈥楢A鈥� Hockey League (SBAAHL) all season long, compiling an impressive 30-1-0 record throughout the 2014/15 campaign punctuated by a pair of double digit victories, 11-1 over the Regina Aces on Friday and 12-1 over the Saskatoon Maniacs on Saturday, to end the regular season on a 19 game winning streak.
Friday night against the Regina Aces saw the UCT Terriers take a 2-0 lead after one period thanks to goals by Keenan Taphorn and Carson Miller.
A Regina goal by Sebastian Eger just 1:33 into the second period cut the UCT Terrier lead in half, however Yorkton would score the next seven goals in the period as Brett Kemp led the way with a second period hattrick while blueliner Reid Perepeluk also chipped in with a pair in the middle frame.
Kaeden Taphorn and Ashton Shewchuk also found the back of the net in the second period to give the UCT Terriers a commanding 9-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
The eight goal lead increased to nine when first year defenceman Kaeden Korczak wired the puck past Matthew Wenarchuk for a power play goal before Kemp rounded out the Yorkton scoring with his fourth goal and sixth point of the night, also on the man advantage, in the 11-1 drubbing.
Nolan Maier picked up the win, his sixth of the season, stopping 11-of-12 Regina shots while Wenarchuk took the loss between the Regina pipes.
But while they indeed picked up a convincing win, not everything went the UCT Terriers鈥� way on Friday night.
Talented forward Keenan Taphorn left the game with an upper body injury after his attempt at delivering a bodycheck was unsuccessful. 鈥淗e went to throw a hit again and the kid kind of soft shouldered off of him and turned and he went into the boards in an awkward way and dislocated his shoulder,鈥� offered UCT Terrier head coach Graham Garrett via a phone interview Sunday evening. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not sure what his timeline will be like but it will be anywhere from two to six weeks.鈥�
This is the second injury for Keenan Taphorn, who had previously missed several regular season games after sustaining an injury at a 鈥楢AA鈥� tournament earlier in the year.
So with Keenan missing the final game of the regular season against the Saskatoon Maniacs, the question on everyone鈥檚 mind was: who will play with Carson Miller and Kaeden Taphorn?
The question was answered early on as Kemp, who had seen time on the top line the previous game when Keenan left with the injury, manned the vacated wing and proved why he was trusted with a top line spot, scoring his second hattrick in as many days while picking up five assists for an eight point night.
His eight points was topped only by Miller鈥檚 four goal, five assist game while the third member of the top line, Kaeden Taphorn, contributed with a two goal, four assist effort for six points.
Kaleb Bulych also had a multi-point night with a goal and an assist while blueliners Carson Dereniwsky and Kaeden Korczak also lit the lamp.
Zachary Dahlseide had Saskatoon鈥檚 lone goal in the game.
Dakota Berezowski picked up his eighth win of the season stopping 21 shots while Saskatoon鈥檚 Spencer House was shelled for 12 goals on 33 shots in the loss.
Following the game coach Garrett mentioned that the decision to put Kemp on the top line was actually a very simple one. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the luxury that we have. We have so many skilled guys that we can throw in to situations and still have them do really well,鈥� mentioned Garrett, continuing, 鈥淜emp is a little smaller (than Keenan) but he plays extremely physical. He angles guys well defensively and is very good defensively.
鈥淗e鈥檚 also gotten stronger with his shooting here and probably has a little bit better puck skills in tight (than Keenan).鈥�
Dominance
The Yorkton UCT Terriers have scored 266 goals this season, 88 more than the second most potent offence (Prairie Storm, 178) while surrendering just 64, giving them a goal differential of plus 202 as a team.
The UCT Terriers also have a total of eight players who have scored at least a point a game, however none have done so more impressively than the duo of Carson Miller and Kaeden Taphorn.
Both Miller and Kaeden Taphorn have eclipsed the 100-point mark this season making them the first two players to do so in recent league history. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a real phenomenal accomplishment for those two guys,鈥� offered the UCT Terrier head coach. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like they鈥檙e playing a full two minutes of power plays or getting a ton of extra ice time; we roll our three lines pretty evenly so for them to accomplish that is even more spectacular because they鈥檙e not getting the extra ice time that maybe some other kids on some other teams do.鈥�
Miller led all SBAAHL players with 49 goals this season while his 58 assists were second only to Kaeden Taphorn鈥檚 60. Likewise, Kaeden鈥檚 41 goals were second only to Miller. His 101 points in 31 games was also second overall to Miller鈥檚 107 points in 31 games.
Other players to score at least a point per game this season are Brett Kemp (30 games, 37 goals, 42 assists, 79 pts), Keenan Taphorn (24 games, 30 goals, 46 assists, 76 pts), Reid Perepeluk (26 games, 28 goals, 12 assists, 40 pts), Aiden Bulych (31 games, 12 goals, 24 assists, 36 pts), Kaleb Bulych (31 games, 13 goals, 20 assists, 33 pts) and Zach McIntyre (23 games, 13 goals, 14 assists, 27 pts).
But while the UCT Terriers were able to put the puck in the net seemingly at will, they were also able to keep the puck out thanks to three strong goalies as starting goaltenders Nolan Maier (6-1-0, three shutouts, 1.19 GAA), Dakota Berezowski (8-0-0, one shutout, 2.00 GAA) and Tyson Byman (12-0-0, two shutouts, 2.19 GAA) have all played exceptionally well.
AP call ups Keenan Aarrestad (1-0-0, 2.25 GAA) and Cameron Zamonsky (3-0-0, 4.13 GAA) did well to hold the fort early on as both Berezowski and Maier started the season injured.
The UCT Terriers, by virtue of a first round bye, will now have a week off as they get set to take on an as of yet unknown opponent in the second round of the SBAAHL playoffs.
