UNITY - Local senior hockey teams were anxious to get back to the game they love after an interrupted season in 2020. Fans were excited to see their community’s senior teams back in game action.
The league opening games took place Nov. 12 and 13 with the following results:
The Unity Miners played in Macklin Nov. 12 and were soundly defeated by the Mohawks by a score of 9-1, with Jared Risling scoring the lone goal for the Miners. Unity was back on the ice the following night and were shut out 10-0 by the Edam 3 Stars. The team full of young, local talent was hoping to regroup for the Nov. 19 weekend where they play edin Biggar in Friday night action and Kindersley in Saturday action.
The Miners certainly thrilled their fans Nov. 19 as they controlled the entire game against the Nationals, leading 5-2 after the second period. However, Biggar came back scoring four goals in the third tying the game and sending it to overtime. The Miners weren’t letting this one slip away and scored in OT, giving them a 6-5 win on the road. Jake McMillan potted the winning goal.
Game four for the Miners, Nov. 20, was a non-successful effort with the Kindersley Klippers shutting out Unity 7-0. The Miners are back on home ice Nov. 26 hosting the Macklin Mohawks.
The Wilkie Outlaws thumped the Kerrobert Tigers in their season opener, Nov. 13, by a score of 9-2, having a variety of the lineup accounted for on the scoresheet. The Outlaws were back in action, playing their home opener Nov. 19 hosting the Hafford Hawks. Nov. 21, Wilkie played an away game in Biggar.
From community correspondent, Phil Heilman, “The Wilkie Outlaws sure knew how to make their home opener against the Hafford Hawks interesting, making for a nail biter that ended up in favour of the home team for the home crowd.
“The party soured early as Hawks goaltender Joel Gryzbowski could have earned all three game stars with his performance, stopping everything in sight. Kyle Rivet eventually put his team up 1-0, but newcomer Blake Young tied it up four minutes later. The late stages of the first saw Brandon Lesko score to lead Hafford to a 2-1 lead after 1”
Heilman said that Wilkie and Hafford traded goals in the second, starting with Rivet’s second of the night and ending with Rory Gregoire scoring on the power play with 15 seconds left to cut the Hafford lead to 4-3
“The third period was a different story as the thrusters engaged and the Outlaws came out flying, scoring four goals from four different goal scorers, including Gregoire’s second of the night, to propel the home side to a 7-4 victory,” notes Heilman
In a Sunday afternoon game, Nov. 21, the Outlaws headed to Biggar for a matchup against the Nationals, winning 7-5, with Rory Gregoire earning a hat trick.
The Kerrobert Tigers lost their home opener to Wilkie. The team aimed to regroup, playing host to Edam Nov. 20. It was a close game that resulted in overtime, however Kerrobert lost the battle going down 4.-3 to the 3 Stars. Scoring for the Tigers were Taylor Murphy with two goals, Thomas Duhaime on an unassisted second goal for the Cats. Kerrobert won’t be back in game action until Dec. 3
The Macklin Mohawks won their home opener against Unity and were set to be back in action Nov. 20 against Hafford, when they defeated the Hawks 8-3. The Mohawks had two goals from Mitch Brennan and two from Spencer Bast with Carsen Stang, Hunter Steinhubel, Dalton Weinkauf and Carson Pickett picking up the other four. Macklin is back in Unity Nov. 26.
Leading the scoring stats as of Nov. 25 for the league are Brock Harrison and Rory Gregoire for the Wilkie Outlaws
You can see the full schedule for all SWHL teams, and their rosters, on their website.
