BY Jonathan Huntington
SASKATOON – In every regular season, in every sport – there are a handful of games that stand-out for being memorable.
Well, Sunday afternoon at Merlis Belsher Place the SMAAAHL had one of those games. On an afternoon when the Saskatoon Contacts honoured Mr. Mac (Jim McIntyre) for being the heart and soul of the organization for 38 years, the Contacts defeated the Saskatoon Blazers in dramatic OT fashion to greatly increase their chance of making the post-season.
“The games between these two clubs are always emotional games and having the celebration for Mr. Mac pregame added to that for our organization,” said Contacts head coach Ryan Keller after the game. “It was great to have his family in attendance and celebrate what he meant to so many of us that have been through the program.”
After touching tributes from Kelly Boes of Saskatoon Minor Hockey and Lloyd Friesen of the SMAAAHL – along with a ceremonial face-off involving Mr. Mac’s family – the Blazers out-shot the Contacts 18-6 in the opening period. If it wasn’t for the outstanding play of Contacts’ goalie Addy Price – who stopped at least three golden opportunities – the Blazers would have been in the driver’s seat after 20 minutes.
Instead, it was 2-1 entering the second period with the game following a back-and-forth script. In the third period, Austin Schafer took the spotlight by scoring his fourth goal of the game with just 48 seconds remaining to force OT. And then Davey Fisher played hero with the game-winning goal.
“The season has been filled with plenty of ups and downs. This group has shown a ton of resilience through the season dealing with injuries to key pieces and emotional wins and losses,” continued Keller. “Our leadership has been tremendous during the year being able to keep our group grounded and focused on improving everyday. We continue to take this one day at a time and worry about what we can control through the next couple weeks.”
The win on Sunday puts the Contacts in a playoff spot for the first time in months. After starting the year with a 2-11 record, the Contacts are tied with the Tisdale Trojans for the final playoff spot with 34 points – and a game in-hand. Saskatoon has five games remaining (Regina, Swift Current twice and Notre Dame twice), while Tisdale has four games remaining (Warman, Prince Albert and Estevan twice).
Mr. Mac’s Fingerprints: So many memories floated around Merlis Belsher Place on Sunday afternoon as Contacts’ alumni remembered Mr. Mac, who was with the organization for nearly 40 years as a coach or manager before passing in January at the age of 87.
“The memories of Mr. Mac are endless,” continued Keller. “He taught us so many lessons as both players and people on what it meant to be a teammate. Sometimes that was through tough love and holding us accountable but also treated everyone the same way and showed no favourtism.
“His fingerprints are still all over this organization and why myself and so many other alumni are back involved with the program and focused on trying to get it back on top.”
Finish Lines: There are two weeks remaining in the regular season – and there are some critical games ahead. Besides the battle for the final playoff spots, the final first-place showdown is Thursday night in Regina when the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors travel to play to the Pat Canadians. It’s almost a must-win game for Moose Jaw if they want to have home-ice advantage throughout the playoff run. The Warriors are two points behind Regina with five games remaining – but Regina has a game in-hand.
