BY Jonathan Huntington
SASKATOON – In the span of one hour in two different cities in two different leagues, the semi-final round of the SMAAAHL playoffs became clear late Sunday night
In Swift Current, Brendan Jones and Gunner Moore combined to score four unanswered goals to lead the visiting Bears to a convincing 6-2 victory to eliminate the talented Swift Current Legionnaires. That sends the Bears to Regina tomorrow night to start their semi-final best-of-five series against the #1 ranked Pat Canadians.
At the same time last night – nearly 300KMs northeast in Saskatoon – the Saskatoon Westleys defeated the Saskatoon Royals in the Prairie Junior Hockey League quarter-finals, making life so much easier for the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors and Saskatoon Blazers.
IF the Westleys had lost Sunday night, that PJHL series would have continued into this week – causing some interesting schedule choices for the Warriors-Blazers semi-final round in the SMAAAHL. The Westleys, Royals and Blazers all share the Rod Hamm Arena. The Westleys-Royals series had two more dates locked-down at the Rod Hamm this week.
But all those scheduling challenges disappeared late last night. The Blazers will open their semi-final in Moose Jaw tomorrow night. Game 2 will be in Saskatoon on Thursday; Game 3 returns to Moose Jaw on Saturday. If needed, Game 4 in Saskatoon next Tuesday with Game 5 in Moose Jaw next Wednesday.
FIRST ROUND BEAUTY: The Legionnaires and Bears provided the best first-round series with 45 goals over five games. Swift Current had 46 shots on Sunday night but could only get two goals against Evan Hutcheon.
Before the game started, Estevan Innovex Bears head coach Ryan Pilon quipped: “Our leadership group will have (the team) ready to go. They all know what’s at stake.”
That leadership group carried the Bears to victory in Game 5 with Hutcheon in net, Moore adding three points and Jones with the hat-trick.
“The goals and points speak for itself, but (Jones) just plays the game the right way…he’s a big time leader for our team and came through like a lot of players did,” said Pilon after the series win.
The road to the Telus Cup Western Regionals – presented by Brandt – is a long one. We will see how much impact a tough first round will have on the Bears.
FINISH LINES: Congrats to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies for winning consecutive Canada West titles on Saturday. There are 12 SMAAAHL alumni members playing for the Dogs.
- Nolan Maier (Yorkton) is a stellar 6-0 in the post-season with a .962 save percentage
- Chantz Petruic (Moose Jaw) led the team in goals in the regular season
- Dawson Holt (Saskatoon Contacts) tied for the team lead in points in the regular season
- Landon Kosior (Tisdale) top scoring D-man
- Carter Stebbings (Saskatoon Blazers) averaged almost a point per game this season
- Chase Bertholet (Prince Albert), Cade Hayes (Tisdale), Josh Pillar (Prince Albert), Ethan Regnier (Swift Current), Logan Barios (Saskatoon Contacts), Jarrett Penner (Saskatoon Contacts), Keaton Sorenson (Notre Dame).
