Tune in to the Sports Fix tonight

Just a heads up for anyone interested in hearing some Klipper banter. I'll be on the Sports Fix with Dan O'Connor on CJNB in North Battleford tonight. Tune in here (the CJNB icon) at 8 p.m. to listen in.

As a Monday treat, here's the Klipper story that will run in Wednesday's paper, with thoughts from Rockie Zinger and Johnny Calkins.

Klippers sink to .500 after woeful road trip

JOSH LEWIS
The Clarion

One of the most dangerous teams in the SJHL can’t buy a goal these days, it seems.

The Kindersley Klippers managed only three goals on a three-game southeast road swing, losing two of those games to drop to .500 on the season.

Kurt Leedahl scored late in the first period to give the Klippers a 1-0 win over the Notre Dame Hounds on Thursday. It was all downhill from there as the Weyburn Red Wings handed down a 6-0 pasting on Friday and the Estevan Bruins weren’t much more gracious, defeating Kindersley 6-2 on Saturday.

The weekend trip came on the heels of a 4-2 home loss to the La Ronge Ice Wolves on Tuesday, their third straight loss to that club.

The Klippers (8-8-1) still sit third in the Sherwood Conference, but they are only one point ahead of Notre Dame and Weyburn, both of whom hold a game in hand.

Assistant coach Rockie Zinger said every team in the conference aside from Yorkton is struggling to make progress.

“As much as we think we’ve struggled in Kindersley, just a minute here. They’re probably saying the same things in Estevan and Weyburn,” Zinger said. “We’re all fighting and I think that’s the parity in the league. If we can get on a roll, maybe we can put a little distance between us and the others.”

Centre Johnny Calkins said his team needs to stop gripping their sticks so tight.

“We’re getting our chances. I’d be worried if we weren’t getting any chances. We just gotta bear down,” he said of the recent offensive woes.

“I think at times we’re getting too fancy,” Zinger added. “We need to get back to throwing pucks to the net, competing in the high traffic areas and winning battles to get the puck on net. When you’re having trouble finding offence, you don’t need to be looking for the tic-tac-toe plays. We’re trying to get too pretty. We need to get back to grinding goals out.”

Calkins acknowledged that linemate Andrew Dommett, who will likely miss another month of action, has been sorely missed recently.

“We do miss him. Still, we’re getting a lot of chances. We should be scoring.”

That said, the Klippers’ shot totals have been anemic over the past week, ranging from 17 to 26.

Estevan got off to a quick start on Saturday, getting goals from Mark Cross, Dylan Smith and Ben Findlay in the first period. Calkins replied for the Klippers less than three minutes in.

Braeden Adamyk made it a one-goal game three minutes into the second, but the Bruins got more scoring from Matt Dochylo, Ryan Andersen and Smith to break the game open.

“I thought the score was worse than what the game was,” Zinger said of the Estevan loss. “Our boys competed hard throughout the game and we had a couple of bad bounces.”

There were four fights in the second and third period. The Bruins outshot the Klippers 35-26.

Head coach Larry Wintoneak mixed up the lines Saturday in an attempt to spark some offence. It didn’t work, but Calkins said he felt some chemistry.

“Personally, my line with (Taylor) Wasden and (D. Jay) McGrath, I thought we actually played really well. We had a ton of chances and again, we couldn’t score. We should have had a few more goals,” said the Kyle native. “Obviously Larry was going to try something to get more offence.”

Zinger said he will stick with those lines tonight (Wednesday) when the Klippers host the Battlefords North Stars. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s game was the most humiliating for the Klippers, as Weyburn exacted some revenge for the 11-2 beating they took on Oct. 3 in Kindersley.

The Klippers managed only 17 shots to Weyburn’s 35.

The deluge began in the second period when the Red Wings beat Alexandre Peck four times, twice on the power play. Shawn Cowie, Drew George, Rodney Cowie and Brayden Kmita had the goals.

Weyburn added two more against Justin McDonald early in the third, with Jesse Ross and Shawn Cowie striking five minutes apart.

“I think it just comes down to preparation and focus. It’s not like we’re out of shape,” said Calkins. “But there’s a difference between working hard and working smart. We’re still a hard working team, we just need to work hard at better times in the game.”

After surrendering 12 goals in two nights, Zinger said the team needs to bear down defensively as well.

“You have to have pride in the fact you’re not going to get beat in a corner or get beat to a loose puck. We need to tighten up and win more battles and be there for support in the corners,” he said. “We’d like to cut down our goals against and start feeling what it’s like to play with a lead again. We’ve spent so much time playing catch-up, there’s a little more urgency and you’re forced to play differently.”

Friday’s game in Wilcox was a rare low-scoring win for Kindersley. Leedahl blasted home a power play feed from John Sonntag with 2:34 left in the opening frame and the Klippers held on to give Peck his first SJHL shutout on his 20th birthday.

Notre Dame carried the shots 26-24.

“I thought on Thursday night we played a very solid defensive game,” said Zinger.

The Klippers host the Battleford North Stars tonight at 7:30 p.m. and Calkins said his teammates need to keep their chins up and believe in themselves.

“I think we just need to keep working. We’ve had dry spells before,” he replied. “The biggest thing is to stay positive and work through things and don’t have any excuses.”

Zinger and fellow assistant Kevin Edgerton now take over behind the bench while Wintoneak and defenceman Sean Flanagan are in Penticton, B.C. for the World Junior A Challenge.