Calkins, Cahill get SJHL weekly honours

The Klippers were all over the SJHL This Week released this morning, and then some.

Johnny Calkins and Sean Cahill were named player and goaltender of the week, respectively. Congrats to both. They have each been a crucial part of the team's recent success. Yorkton's Blaine Tendler was the d-man of the week.

The Klippers are also third in the league power rankings, a place they have not been for a while.

You can read the whole thing on the league site, but here are the parts focusing on the Klippers:

The SJHL has reached the Christmas break with the La Ronge Ice Wolves and Yorkton Terriers leading their respective conferences. However, as the league breaks until December 30, the story is the Kindersley Klippers. The team relieved Larry Wintoneak of his coaching duties December 13, and since Rockie Zinger took over, the team has done nothing but rack up win after win. Kindersley goes into the break on a six game winning streak with four of those wins coming since Zinger took over head coaching duties. The streak has the Klippers in 2nd in the Sherwood Conference—three up on Weyburn and four ahead of the 4th place Estevan Bruins.

SHERWOOD PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Johnny Calkins (Kindersley)

The Klippers have turned their game around over the past couple of weeks. One of the reasons whdy is the play of Johnny Calkins. The 1990 born forward from Kyle, SK has scored six goals in his last five games—all Klipper victories. He goes into the Christmas break leading the Klippers in scoring with 55 points which is tied for 5th in the league.

SHERWOOD GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK – Sean Cahill (Kindersley)

The Klippers have gone through many goaltenders this year as they try and replace Josh Thorimbert. They may have finally found one in Cahill. The 20 year old from Calgary was in goal for three of Kindersley’s four victories this past week and is 6-1 since arriving from the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

POWER RANKINGS

1. Yorkton Terriers – The Terriers continue to show that they have what it takes to get back to the SJHL final and perhaps the RBC Cup. It will be interesting to see if Yorkton has anything up their sleeve when the January 10 deadline hits as they are already a very good hockey team.

2. La Ronge Ice Wolves – The line of Carre, Lindensmith and Eggum continues on as one of the best lines in all of Canadian Junior “A” hockey. Carre goes into the break riding an 18 game point scoring streak.

3. Kindersley Klippers – When Larry Wintoneak was let go, the players said there are no more excuses now. They don’t have to apologize to anyone for the way they are playing at this moment as they are playing their best hockey of the year

Klippers get honourable mention in national top 20

Not that I put much stock in these rankings, but the Klippers' red hot play of late is getting them attention outside the SJHL as they have received an honourable mention in the latest CJHL Top 20.


1. (1) Powell River Kings (BCHL)
2. (2) Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)
3. (4) Newmarket Hurricanes (OJHL)
4. (5) Wellington Dukes (OJHL)
5. (3) Pembroke Lumber Kings (CJHL)
6. (6) Cornwall Colts (CJHL)
7. (7) Woodstock Slammers (MHL)
8. (11) Okotoks Oilers (AJHL)
9. (8) Burlington Cougars (OJHL)
10. (14) Fort McMurray Oil Barons (AJHL)
11. (12) Yorkton Terriers (SJHL)
12. (9) Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL)
13. (13) Soo Thunderbirds (NOJHL)
14. (17) Portage Terriers (MJHL)
15. (NR) Penticton Vees (BCHL)
16. (15) Vernon Vipers (BCHL)
17. (18) Selkirk Steelers (MJHL)
18. (HM) La Ronge Ice Wolves (SJHL)
19. (19) Wisconsin Wilderness (SIJHL)
20. (HM) Le College Francais de Longueuil (LHJAAAQ)

Honorable mention goes to the Kindersley Klippers (SJHL), Dryden Ice Dogs (SIJHL), Soo Eagles (NOJHL), Kingston Voyageurs (OJHL), and the Weeks Crushers (MHL).

Klippers win final game before Christmas

The Klippers are heading home tomorrow on a high after winning their sixth straight game tonight, a 5-4 victory over the Flin Flon Bombers.

Jordon Hoffman, Jesse Mysiorek, Riley Down (his first of the year), Johnny Calkins and Sanfred King scored for the Klippers. Andrew Johnston and Ryan Fox replied with two each for Flin Flon.

The Klippers (20-15-2) are now tied for third place in the SJHL, behind only Yorkton and La Ronge.

A scout from St. Scholastica, a Div. III school in Duluth, Minn., was at the game tonight to see John Sonntag and Johnny Calkins.

I'll have more in the morning, but for now, here are the post-game reactions.

Rockie Zinger

Taylor Wasden

John Sonntag

Klippers drop a bomb on Flin Flon for fifth straight win

The Klippers were in a pretty festive mood after tonight's game and it wasn't just because of Christmas.

Five different players scored in a 5-1 victory over the Flin Flon Bombers in the first of a two-game set this weekend. Kindersley has now won five in a row.

The goals came from Cody Lund, Jesse Mysiorek, Johnny Calkins, Andrew Dommett and Sanfred King. The Klippers dominated the Bombers on the forecheck in the first period, led 2-0 after two and really blossomed in the third.

Don't look now, but the Klippers (19-15-2) are now in sole possession of second place for the first time in quite a while. Weyburn is one back and Estevan is two back, both with a game in hand. Yorkton had their nine-game winning streak snapped tonight and they are 12 points ahead of the Klippers, with an extra game played.

Bump of the game: Jesse Mysiorek
Three Stars: 1. Braeden Adamyk, 2. Johnny Calkins, 3. Jesse Mysiorek
Honourable mentions to Sean Flanagan and Sanfred King. Both guys were very impressive tonight. It was one of those nights when it's really hard to pick these because so many guys played really well.

Both teams will do it all over again tomorrow at 6.

Interviews:

Tanner Kissick's line with Down and Wasden was terrific tonight. He was under heavy scrutiny during this interview...

Rockie Zinger talks about how important the strong forecheck and traffic in front were tonight, the contributions from all lines and tomorrow's game.

Friday grab bag

A few items to mention heading into the weekend...

Earlier this week it looked like Kindersley's Shayne Neigum - traded from Kamloops to Regina on Tuesday - could be joining the Klippers.

Neigum wanted to play the rest of the year in Kindersley instead of reporting to the Pats, but they more or less forced him to report by refusing to release his rights. He had to report or start his post-secondary education.

Shayne would have been a great addition to the Klippers, especially considering he's already friends with most of the guys on the team.

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Don't forget the Truck Lotto draw will be made during Saturday's game. It's not too late to buy your ticket.

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Team Canada's roster for the Spengler Cup has been announced and three players from the region are on the team.

Kindersley's Joel Kwiatkowski, who played parts of seven seasons with Ottawa, Washington, Florida, Pittsburgh and Atlanta, is on the team for the second time. The 33-year-old defenceman is in his third season playing in Europe and is currently with Bern in Switzerland. Joel was kind enough to do an interview with me two years ago when he played for Cherepovets Severstal (KHL) and it was an eye-opener to say the least.

Kerrobert's Curtis Murphy, also a defenceman, is headed to the Spengler for at least the second time (that I know of, anyway). Murphy, 35, only played one NHL game (with Minnesota in 2002-03), but he dominated in the AHL with back-to-back defenceman of the year honours and three all-star nods. Murphy is currently in his fourth season with Langnau in Switzerland.

Finally, most NHL fans will remember Unity's Curtis Brown from his days in Buffalo and San Jose. He was a key cog for the Sabres for years and piled up 736 NHL games before heading to Europe in 2008. The 34-year-old forward is in his second year with Swiss team Biel.

Congrats to all three players. They should have just called it Team West Central Saskatchewan.

I don't always get a chance to watch much of the Spengler Cup, but I love going through the rosters each year and remembering players from 10 years ago. It's like a trip down memory lane for the hardcore hockey fan. Really, how else would you remember names like Micki Dupont, Domenic Pittis and J.P. Vigier?

The other teams this year are HC Davos (the host, as always), Dynamo Moscow, ERC Ingolstadt and Energie Karlovy Vary. I have a friend from Karlovy Vary and he wouldn't shut up when the Czechs won the worlds this year, so I hope someone snuffs them out.

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Here's a story that disgusted me this week. The Ontario Minor Hockey Association suspended a coach for the rest of the season because he pulled his team off the ice after an opponent called a black player on his team a n----r.

So, the moral of the story:

Racial slur = three games

Standing up against the racial slur = five months

The most ridiculous part? The OMHA said it considers the slur and the forfeit as "completely separate infractions."

Cause and effect, people. Or better yet, how about some common sense?

Have a great weekend and see you at the WCEC.

Interviews from the road wins

A little late on getting these up, but as promised, here are the player interviews from the wins in North Battleford and Gull Lake this week.

Justin McDonald was stellar against Notre Dame in his first start since Oct. 22. We did the whole Ottawa Senators bike interview routine, just without a cameraman...

Johnny Calkins was dominant in the win over the Stars Tuesday. He talks about the play of his line that night and the first game under Rockie Zinger.

Andrew Dommett talks about his performance in North Battleford and has some harsh words for the Stars and their coach's antics late in the game. He also proves, once again, that he absolutely cannot multi-task during an interview.

Ryan Benn on his goal Tuesday, the sideshow late in the game and his feeling that this winning streak will "take" compared with past momentum swings for the Klippers.

Klippers win fourth straight in Gull Lake

For the first time this season, the Klippers have won four straight games, including back-to-back road victories.

Sean Flanagan scored the winner on a perfectly placed shot from the top of the left circle with under five minutes to go as the Klippers edged Notre Dame 3-1 in a neutral site game at Gull Lake.

It was a tight game all the way through, with Justin McDonald, making his first start since Oct. 22, going toe to toe with Hounds netminder Russell Abbott.

Notre Dame's Trevor Cameron opened the scoring at 16:29 of the first. After some heavy pressure by the Klippers in the Hounds' zone, Cameron and David Lerner broke out the other way.

It stayed that way until nearly 12 minutes into the second when Johnny Calkins again scored a power play goal on a quick, accurate shot from the half-boards.

Both teams failed to convert on golden opportunities to take the lead, with the Klippers whiffing on a two-minute 5-on-3 in the second, and Notre Dame not converting on back-to-back power plays early in the third.

Finally, Flanagan finished off a play that began with hard work from Andrew Dommett. He busted his chops to get through a pair of Hounds inside the blueline, then dished it over to the slot for a wide open Calkins... who fanned on it. The puck went into the corner and Braeden Adamyk made a great pass out to Flanagan, who had at least five steamboats to get the shot off.

Adsy didn't hesitate to remind us after the game that he got robbed of the apple on the scoresheet... but he did add the empty-netter with four seconds left.

Time to get to bed, but I will give major kudos to Justin McDonald. He has not started in nearly two months, never complained, kept working hard and preparing for that eventual next shot. It paid off tonight. He may have only made 19 stops, but several were big ones that held his team in the game at critical times. Mac got the green helmet tonight and he deserved it.

Tomorrow, I'll put up an interview with Justin about tonight's game as well as several from the Battlefords game Tuesday.

One last thing, our broadcast setup was....err, interesting to say the least. I am thankful we didn't get dinged by a puck or two. And Keith, if yer reading this (and I know you are) thanks for the gloves, they saved my hands from frostbite.