Klippers hang on to beat Estevan but lose McGrath

The Klippers are now only two points behind the Yorkton Terriers following a tight 4-2 win over the Estevan Bruins in a huge Sherwood Conference matchup.

If  you were at the game and the score has you confused, John Sonntag was credited with an empty netter after the game for that puck he shot into the net at the buzzer.

After a bit of a slow start, the Klippers picked it up midway through the first and led 2-1 after one and 3-1 after two. The B's made it a tight finish though when Ryan Andersen scored with 13 minutes left.

Chris Daniels opened the scoring at 3:35 off a bad giveaway in the Klipper zone. Braeden Adamyk countered on the power play at 10:50 when he and Dommett both poked at a rebound and Adamyk slipped it past the right pad of Joel Danyluk.

Dommett made it 2-0 at 15:37 on a two-man advantage after Kurt Leedahl circled around the zone, got it to Adamyk for a shot and Dommett knocked in the rebound five-hole.

Midway through the second, D. Jay McGrath scored from the left side on a centering pass from one of the King brothers (not sure which).

But the Klippers will be without McGrath's services for a while after he suffered a knee injury in the third period. McGrath went hard into the end boards behind the Estevan net and had to be helped off the ice. He's on crutches now and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, with no idea how long he could be out. That's a huge loss for the Klippers with the way he's been playing lately. That line had a ton of chemistry.

Johnny Calkins kept his point streak going tonight with an assist, but he didn't gain ground in the scoring race as Travis Eggum had four points and Marc-Andre Carre had three. Doug Lindensmith (the SJ scoring leader going into last night) didn't dress for La Ronge's win over Weyburn.

The Klippers take on Estevan again tonight, with a chance to tie Yorkton for first place if they win. The Bruins  are only four points ahead of Melville, with two extra games played, so they need a win too.

Interviews from last night...

Braeden Adamyk - one goal, one assist

Taylor Duzan - Duzy hasn't scored since Dec. 1 against Estevan (hard to believe, isn't it?) but he and his line had a tremendous game last night. There was a point late in the first, on the PK, where Duzan put in one of the best forechecking efforts I've ever seen. The Estevan defenceman just could not shake him and Duzy ended up with the puck and ragging a good 30 seconds off the clock. He also blocked a couple shots on the PK and had some good chances along with Hoffman and Elliot.

Rockie Zinger

Top line dominates in win over Nipawin

Andrew Dommett, Johnny Calkins and Braeden Adamyk were at their very best in the first period of tonight's 6-2 win over the Nipawin Hawks. The line scored three goals as a result of some unbelievable passing plays to help the Klippers take a 4-0 lead after one.

The rest of the game was much quieter, but in the end Calkins had four points (1-3) and Adamyk (2-1) and Dommett (1-2) had three each. Calkins now has 34 points in his last 13 games and is only three points out of the SJHL scoring lead with 75 points. If he keeps this pace up, he could conceivably hit 100.

Sanfred King and Sean Flanagan had the other goals for the Klippers (26-17-2). Brady Zerr and Jeremy Peeke (on an absolute rocket) scored for the Hawks (16-24-3-1).

Justin McDonald got the start and made 25 saves. The shots were 39-27 for Kindersley.

This was a game in hand for the Klippers on Yorkton. They now sit four points behind the first-place Terriers with one game in hand.

Here are some interviews... (more coming)

Rockie Zinger

Andrew Dommett

Wheaton King

President's Tour stops in Kindersley

The annual President's Tour is in Kindersley today, beginning with a press conference earlier this morning to announce the Klippers' award nominees. They are Johnny Calkins (MVP), Kurt Leedahl (top defenceman) and Tanner Kissick (top rookie).

Given to each award nominee

Laury Ryan speaking at Synergy Credit Union

Johnny Calkins - MVP

Kurt Leedahl - top defenceman

Tanner Kissick - top rookie

Thoughts from the three nominees (first Leedahl, then Kissick and Calkins):

Finally, my annual interview with Laury Ryan about the state of the league. We talked about attendance issues, getting exposure to the league's product, the trade deadline, the Junior A Supplement and other issues.

Adamyk gets POTW; Zinger on last week's trip

First, sorry there hasn't been a new post here in a week. With the team on the road, there wasn't a lot for me to say. Also, I had written a long post with my thoughts on the deadline moves and ended up losing it all, so I got a little frustrated. Anyway, I'm back now.

Congrats to Braeden Adamyk on receiving the SJHL's player of the week award announced this morning. This really could have gone to either Adamyk or Johnny Calkins, who both had a huge week on the road (as did Andrew Dommett after he came back from the flu).

Adamyk potted three goals and 10 points to help the Klippers win three of four games in five nights. Following tonight's games, the Neepawa native sits 10th in SJHL scoring with 28 goals and 58 points.

Speaking of Johnny Calkins, he has got to be the hottest player in the SJHL right now (challenged perhaps by Estevan's Jonathan Ceci). Over his last 12 games, the Kyle product has 12 goals and 30 points. He's now fourth in league scoring, not far behind ex-teammate Travis Eggum.

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The SJHL President's Tour comes to Kindersley tomorrow (Wednesday). The tour stop begins with an 11 a.m. press conference at Synergy Credit Union with league president Laury Ryan along with the Credit Union Cup. The Klippers will announce their nominees for league MVP, top defenceman and top rookie at the presser.

Prior to the Nipawin game tomorrow night, a display will be set up in the WCEC lobby featuring the championship trophy and league awards. The first 200 fans to visit the display receive a Credit Union Cup replica keychain, and there is also an Ultimate Fan contest that gives the grand prize winner an 11-day trip to Europe.

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I'm late getting this up, but I had a chat with Rockie Zinger yesterday about the road trip last week. Some of this was cut out due to a technical issue (mostly talking about how well Wheaton King fit into the lineup and Zane Morin's debut Saturday in Humboldt).

On the injury front, Sanfred King is expected to return to the lineup tonight, while Spencer Braaten is a little behind schedule. The original target for his return was this weekend against Estevan, but he skated recently and now isn't expected back until early February. Rockie said the Klippers won't rush him back.

Klippers busy right up to deadline

More on this soon but here is the final wrap on the Klippers' activity last night ahead of the SJHL trade deadline.

• Traded Lance Tabin and Braeden Johnson to Battlefords for '94 forward Justin Lund (Stars AAA) and '93 forward Michael Sagen (Regina Pats).
• Flipped Michael Sagen to Melville for a player to be named later.
• Acquired '92 defenceman Zane Morin from La Ronge for futures.

Also, Brandon forward (and the brother of Sanfred King) Wheaton King was re-assigned to the Klippers yesterday and will be joining the team.

A busy day!

Rockie Zinger's comments:

On Zane Morin

He's a guy that La Ronge didn't want to part with. He brings some size. The reports we got on him is he makes a good first pass, doesn't panic under pressure and he's got good character. It's a move that allows us to have a kid that could play three more years. We needed to get a little more depth on our back end.

On dealing Lance Tabin

Lance Tabin's going to be a hard guy to replace. Unfortunately, due to the 20-year-old limit, we were over the limit and we were kicking tires. Zane's not going to come in and replace Lance and that's not what he was brought in for. He gives us a little more flexibility as an organization going forward.

On Justin Lund

Justin Lund is playing for Battleford's AAA team. He's fifth in scoring on that team. Big body, very high academic marks, fits into the mold and the educational area that we're going to start to focus on in the organization. He aspires to get a scholarship and every report we had is right now, it could be a bit of a tough season in Battleford with coaching changes. From talking to Ken Pearson, they had a conversation with the kid and he's focused on coming in and playing Junior A next year. We expect he'll work hard next year.

On getting Wheaton King from Brandon

Wheaton's a big body that can play either the wing or centre. He's 6'3", skates well, big body, good hands and isn't afraid to mix it up. The versatility with him being able to play the wing and also down the middle gives you options. He's got some offensive upside, he had 11 points in the WHL. Some people might say, well, only 11 points, but he wasn't being used in a scoring role in the Western League and there is some offensive upside. We see him fitting in nicely with our group of forwards.

On Ryan Benn's decision to leave

It was very tough. Ryan came in at 3 pm and made it clear that he hadn't lost the passion for hockey. He really has a passion for hockey and he could see the writing that there wasn't going to be a lot of minutes for him. As much as he loved the guys and the community and the organization, he loved playing more. If he couldn't do it here he wanted to move on and do it somewhere else. It was a tough moment for Ryan and for the Klipper organization. You never want to see a player at that age have to make a decision like that. He's a really good kid and he wants to play the game of hockey.

(Ryan will return home to Spruce Grove to play for the Junior B Regals the rest of the season)


Satisfied with the deadline acquisitions?

We have to be satisfied with them because there's no looking back. We preach to our boys that you always want to strive to pursue excellence and be the best you can be. The decisions that were made as an organization, we hope it gives the guys still in that locker room the best possible opportunity to have a long playoff drive and experience some success. It's time to get at it.

Klippers get Johnson?

Here's what I know. Left winger Braeden Johnson was released by the Saskatoon Blades today and has been in touch with the Klippers. It does look likely that he will be coming to Kindersley, but nothing is done yet.

If he does join the Klippers, that would give them 16 forwards (and 25 players) and pretty much force them to move at least one out.

That combined with the fact that they still have 10 1990s means we'll probably see some movement tonight. Nothing new to report on the trade front as of 6:30 p.m. though. Stay tuned.

Braaten talks about joining the Klippers

Had a chance to speak with the newest Klipper, Spencer Braaten, after practice today. He will keep his #19 with the Klippers. On the trade front, there is no Klipper news as of 12:15 p.m.