Drake Canucks won game one of the best of three series featuring the defending Provincial A Senior hockey champs and #1 ranked senior hockey team in the province.
In the second overtime Canuck's forward John Lawrence took a forward pass from Cameron Blair and slipped a back hand shot under the blocker side pad of Kindersley's stalwart goalie Travis Child. The Canucks won 3-2 in the 89th minute of a three and a half hour game.
Shayne Neigum led the charge for the visiting Kindersley squad who were up 1-0 after the 1st period. He led the team in energy and shots, but the first goal actually came off the stick Darian Dzuirzynski.
Neigum wouldn't be held back on this night. Just 1 minute after a disallowed goal in the second period he got the second for his team. They were up 2-0 after 40 minutes thanks to a full team effort, but Neigum had a little extra pep in his step. He scored at 11:28 and Darian Dziurzynski got the assist.
Drake came into the 3rd down by 2 with a power play. Layne Young for Kindersley was given a high sticking penalty with 10 seconds left in the second. Overall it was fast skating, hard hitting game without a ton of penalties. Players would jockey for position in the face off circle, and there were warnings given. Both teams never backed down from playing a very physical game, wanting to assert dominance early in this series. The refs found the right balance of talking teams down in scrums and awarding penalties when necessary.
Canucks defenceman Eric Roy scored for Drake at 9:14 in the third. Assists went to Andrew Johnson and Austin Calladine. The goal that turned the tide and tied this game came just under 3 minutes later. John Lawrence walked out front and roofed it into the top right hand corner at 6:28. Assist went to Drake's captain Cameron Blair, who is from Drake originally, and has been their best player for the past 4 years.
1st overtime solved nothing, but the chances were 3-2 for Kindersley. The Klippers had some tough puck luck in this overtime. It looked they might end it at 18 seconds into the extra frame with Canucks goalie Calvin Bartel out of position and Kindersley's Kylar Hope right on the door step. In these game situations Hope is definitely a player you want on your team. His play was stellar in the first overtime. Drake's 2 chances to end the game were a whiff on a one timer and a puck hitting the post.
Around 9 minutes into the 5th period Drake scored to end the game.
This one was back and forth all night. Calkins made a couple nice moves and had a chance to score in Drake's end. In typical fashion, after a very close call in one end the play came back to Kindersley's end with Drake's second line center John Lawrence sealing the deal. Drake is the only town is Saskatchewan to win provincials in all four senior hockey divisions A/B/C/D.
Game 2 is Thursday Feb 23rd 8:15 in Kindersley
Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday Feb 25th at 7pm back in Drake.
We'll be back on the air with the Senior Klippers tonight at 5:45pm as they head into Macklin for game 2 of SWHL semifinals.
Drake Canucks
35. Calvin Bartel
30. Justin MacDonald
3. Catlin Gusikoski - scratch
4. Eric Roy
5. David Stumborg
6. Carter Hansen - scratch
7. Maguire Blair
8. Nayte Zip
9. Terell Draude
10. Austin MacDonald - scratch
11. Zach Zadorozniak
12. Karstin MacDonald - scratch
14. Emmett Scheidt
15. Nolan Blair
16. Austin Calladine
17. Cameron Blair
18. Trey Daelick
19. Maguire Scheidt
20. Carter Coben
21. Steven Toporowski
22. Andrew Johnson
24. Travis Mayan
27. Isaac Scacher
28. John Lawrence
The sportsplex in Drake was built in 1996. The town has approx 350 people. They have a shooting range on the curling rink side, called the duck pond.Kindersley Klippers
31. Travis Child
33. Luke Sproule
2. Dustin Stevenson - scratch
4. Byron Ismond
5. Tate Page - scratch
7. Kyle Donaldson
8. Gage Misskey
9. Troy Boisjoli - scratch
11. Damon McKenzie
13. Brandon Cummings
16. Johnny Calkins
17. Tyler Traptow
18. Deej MacGrath
19. Logan Stephenson
20. Dylan Georget - scratch
21. Jared Erickson
22. David Dziurzynski
23. Brody Ryberg
24. Darian Dziurzynski
25. Carson Grolla
26. Layne Young
27. Shaye Neigum
28. Kylar Hope
34. Josh Sim
71. Jackson Bauml
Sat, Apr 20, 8:30 AM
