Home Opener Preview

I'm heading over to the WCEC soon, but here's a quick preview of tonight's game.

First, if you're in Kindersley, make sure you get to the rink well before the game. The grand re-opening ceremony starts at 6 and the place will be packed.

Battlefords North Stars

The Stars are one of the biggest surprises in the league, and not for a good reason. Battlefords was ranked among the league's elite prior to the season and they've started with five straight losses, three of them in regulation. They need a win in the worst way and from their perspective, ruining the Klippers' big night would be the perfect way to do it.

Up front, Blake Tatchell, Colin Phaneuf and Calder Neufeld are off to hot starts. The Stars could use a little more production from the likes of Brett Miller and Josh Daley, who has yet to score a goal. Don't be surprised if he breaks out tonight.

Battlefords' D has been criticized, but their fortunes could be turning after rookie Zach MacLellan was named SJHL defenceman of the week. The Stars are getting lots of offence from the back end, with six points from MacLellan and a team-leading eight from Woody Klassen.

We don't know whether Kyle Birch or Alex Sirard will get the start. Clearly Birch is the number one guy, but he's had a lukewarm start to the year.

Kindersley Klippers


Braeden Adamyk has been stepping it up in the absence of Andrew Dommett. His seven points led the league in scoring before the Klippers got the last week off. Calkins is on fine form in the playmaking department so far, but he is still looking for his first goal. The Jordon Hoffman and Sanfred King lines are both off to a good start. It will be interesting to see who plays alongside Adamyk and Calkins tonight; Beau Taylor got the first crack but several players were tried in that role last Thursday in Yorkton.

On the back end, all signs point to Riley Down remaining out of the line-up with his shoulder injury. David Haaf will be back in the line-up after serving his suspension. He's got essentially 15 minutes of SJHL experience so it will be nice to get a better look at him. As always, Kurt Leedahl and John Sonntag run the show, but we'll see how Sean Flanagan responds after returning from the Team West camp earlier this week.

Justin McDonald hasn't gotten a start yet this year, and it's hard to imagine that trend changing tonight. Scotty Hellyer will get a chance to perform before what should be a massive crowd.

No game blog tonight, unfortunately. Way too much stuff going on.