For many the playoffs are a learning experience.
For some, they鈥檙e but a step towards a league championship.
Last week the Yorkton RawTec Maulers found out that for them, the 2014/15 SMAAAHL playoffs were a painful lesson as they were crushed by the Regina Pat Canadians in three straight games.
The RawTec Maulers dropped Game One in Regina Wednesday, March 4 by a score of 9-1. The Pat Canadians scored four power play goals on seven chances, all four power play markers coming from Tyran Brown.
Brown also added one more marker for a five goal night while Arthur Miller, Landon Walters, Nathan Gelsinger and Matthew Chekay also scored for Regina.
First year midget forward Tristyn DeRoose, fresh off of his Canada Games experience, notched the only Yorkton goal in the game, a first period power play marker.
Carter Phair shouldered the loss stopping 23-of-28 Regina shots before being pulled in favour of Rylan Palchewich who fared no better, stopping 16-of-20 shots.
Regina鈥檚 Clarke Flegel picked up the win turning aside 24-of-25 Yorkton attempts.
Game Two on Thursday, March 5 saw the Maulers put forth a much better effort on home ice, knowing they must win on home ice to avoid going back to Regina down two games.
Phair did his part in the first period, keeping his team in the game while stopping all 11 Pat Canadian shots in the frame, however the second period wasn鈥檛 as kind to the Carnduff native as Tyler Adams, Ryan Roberts and Miller all found a way to put the puck past the Yorkton goaltender.
Drayson Skulmoski managed to reply with one goal for Yorkton, however it was not enough as the Pat Canadians played solid defence in the final period to clinch the 3-1 victory.
Phair picked up his second loss of the series stopping 24-of-27 Regina shots while Curtis Meger registered his first playoff win of the season brushing aside 14-of-15 Yorkton shots for the victory.
Following the Game Two defeat RawTec Mauler head coach Dan Cross mentioned that his team didn鈥檛 play badly, but the few mistakes that they did make ended up in the back of their net. 鈥淲e made a couple of mistakes, made a bad line change and they scored on us and the first goal there I thought we had a good opportunity to score,鈥� offered Cross, continuing, 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 carry it and then of course, as luck would have it they put one in.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e the most offensive team in the whole league. When you make a mistake they make you pay and you just have to play a good, solid game against them.鈥�
The offensive ability of the Regina Pat Canadians was on display once again in Game Three on Sunday, March 8, as the Regina Pat Canadians put an end to the Yorkton RawTec Mauler season, hammering the Maulers to the tune of 8-1 to sweep Yorkton out of the SMAAAHL playoffs.
Tyran Brown and Conner Chaulk had a pair of goals each for the Pat Canadians while Owen Sillinger, Bryce Platt, Arthur Miller and Mathew Smishek each chipped in with a goal apiece.
Tyler Stratechuk scored Yorkton鈥檚 lone goal of the game in the first period.
Phair shouldered his third consecutive postseason defeat on Sunday, surrendering five goals on 25 Regina shots before giving way to Palchewich who stopped 22-of-25 shots in just under half a game of work.
Flegel picked up his second playoff victory of the season stopping all but one of the 30 Yorkton shots on the night.
The Yorkton RawTec Maulers will now wrap up their 2014/15 campaign with their annual Awards Night, however as of press time it has yet to be scheduled.
