The Outlook Ice Hawks have had a strong postseason run, though they almost saw it come to an end after a flattening loss in Game 1 against Grenfell in the previous round. They staged a great comeback and will now face the Kindersley Sr. Klippers in the Provincial B Finals, a move very beneficial for both sides when it comes to travel.
Ice Hawks provincial import and Rosetown native Jared Jagow saw first hand how bad Kindersley supporters did not want to go to Grenfell. He was in Kindersley for kids hockey the past few weeks during the midst of the previous series, and certainly heard it from the Kindersley fans who were no doubt hoping for an Ice Hawks comeback to avoid a hefty day of travel. In describing the series Jagow said that despite the blowout in Game 1, things were a lot closer than they looked, and that seemingly came true following the reverse sweep.
"No puck luck that first game to be honest with you."
The Ice Hawks would come back in the series, and reaffirm their spot as one of the best teams in the province headed into the series against Kindersley who have been rolling as well. Their opening series in provincials against the Eston Ramblers saw the home rink packed to standing room capacity, and Jagow hopes for a similar crowd this series.
Photo via Outlook Ice Hawks on Facebook"You always want to see that in these small communities. It costs money to run these senior teams, and whenever you can get a full barn like that it makes it easier to play in front of, and makes it easier to run the team as well," said Jagow.
Jagow says many of the Redwings fans over the years have been eager to make the trip to watch their guys play for another team. The arena in Outlook has been packed and they have also been running a fan bus for road games, and Jagow said he knows for a fact the faithful will travel well to Kindersley too.
The upcoming series also represents an always nice SVHL/SWHL match-up, something that means even more to the nearby Outlook players from Rosetown. Senior players in an area tend to know each other well from growing up playing against one another, and Jagow recalled some of his Kindersley connections and shared how he is looking forward to the final series.
"We are in all these towns chasing kids around, but also playing senior hockey, and your talking to everybody and running into guys you played with. Like (Shayne Neigum), the Dziurzynski brothers I used to know them quite well."
Through work Jagow ends up talking to Sr. Klippers coach Chris Forsman at times, and he said those phone calls can sometimes end up in barbs being traded. He commended the hockey community for these reasons alone.
"Hockey is an awesome community. You play with guys 10 years ago, and now you run into them 10 years down the road playing against them in a provincial final and stuff like that. It's definitely a cool community and I think it will be a good series."
All the information you need for the upcoming seriesJagow's Rosetown Redwings rarely match-up against the Sr. Klippers, but some of their top players will get a chance this series as a key part of the Outlook attack. Jagow is joined on the 'wings line by Rosetown teammates Jordan Johnston and Kyle Ireland, as well as on the back end with Dallan Walker also joining on for the provincial run.
"We do play together as well for them in provincials," said Jagow, who reminded West Central Online of the fact that he has played with Outlook before, "That's kind of where this came from."
During the Redwings recent SVHL hiatus, the same set of players laced up for Outlook; albeit for a shortened pandemic season. An opportunity presented itself, and has now resulted in the chance for a provincial title over a year later.
As mentioned all of the information needed for the Provincial B Final can be found in the poster above provided by the Ice Hawks, as Game 1 of the series kicks things off on Sunday. Puck drop is set for 5:00 pm from the Jim Kook Rec Plex in Outlook.
Thu, Apr 25, 9:30 AM
