PRE-CHRISTMAS RECAP

Sask East action last weekend had five games, four of which resulted in runaway victories, and one hotly contested game that wasn’t decided until late in the third period.

Friday night saw only one game on the schedule, as the Langenburg Warriors travelled to Churchbridge to renew their Highway 16 rivalry with the Imperials.  Unfortunately for the host team, a full Warriors bench came out firing, earning a 3-0 lead after the first period and coasting to a 6-0 victory over the Imps.  Brenden Birch Hayden recorded the shutout between the pipes for Langenburg, while Mike Rogoschewsky netted the hat trick to pace the Warriors’ attack.  Hayden Wiebe continued with his strong play, recording a goal and two assists to maintain his league lead in points.  Colby Entz took the loss for the Imperials.  Four misconducts in the third period set the table for the rematch in Langenburg the next night.  

Saturday night featured a slate of four games, one of which was the aforementioned rematch between Churchbridge and Langenburg in the Re/Max Arena.  The Imps put up more of a fight this night, but the Warriors rode intermission leads of 3-1 and 7-2 enroute to a 10-3 final score.  Zach McGriskin, Dylan Tanner, and Kyle Stephansson notched goals for Churchbridge, and Ryan Bezon tended the cage for the Imperials.  For the Warriors, Hayden Wiebe and Massen Ziola each recorded two goals and seven points on the night, and Mike Rogoschewsky fired another hat trick to go along with three assists.  Carter Olson recorded the dub in net for Langenburg.  The Carlson boys for Langenburg got on the scoresheet in a different fashion, as Parker squared off with the Imps’ Colby Jacob in the second period and Nick, Langenburg’s captain, shed the mitts against Brady Dixon in the third.  

Down Highway 8, the Rocanville Tigers played host to the visiting Esterhazy Flyers.  Even with coach Trevor Rapchalk and assistant coach Mike Kaczmar suiting up, the shorthanded Flyers were simply no match for the well-oiled Tigers machine, falling 8-1 to Rocanville.  The Tigers got multi-point outings from Stephane Robidoux, the multi-talented Dillan Reavie, Ashley Howie, Daniel Green, Brett Hope, Ryan Regel, and Jacob Tibbatts.  For the first time since 2019, Brad Hickman suited up for the Tigers, assisting on Hope’s second goal of the game.  Parker Johnson had the only goal for the Flyers, who had Michael Andrews minding the crease.  Ben Fouillard recorded the win for the Tigers, who continue to roll in the South Division.  Rocanville’s Tayler Thompson received a match penalty and a subsequent three game suspension.

In Theodore, the Buffalos welcomed the Wapella Blackhawks to town.  Featuring a balanced attack, every Buffs skater recorded at least one point as they thundered over Wapella 10-3.  Zach Korchinski and Dylan Thackeray each notched two goals and two assists for the Buffs, and Zach McIntyre sniped three times in support of Warren Shymko’s win in the crease.  The Hawks received a goal and an assist from Kaleb Rasmussen, and Matt D’Orazio took the loss.   Only seven minor penalties were called in a relatively quiet matchup.

The game of the weekend was undoubtedly in Swan River, where the Swan Valley Axemen and Canora Cobras met for the first time since their hotly contested North Division final playoff series last season.  Missing Scott Mikoski and the Hauber brothers, the Cobras leaned on their roster depth in this game against a locked and loaded Axemen squad who were playing in a packed Swan River Centennial Arena.  Canora sprinted out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Skylar Wallin and Tanner Denesowych, but Jamie Valentino responded to make the score 2-1 at the end of the first period.  The teams exchanged goals in a feisty second period, making the score 4-3 Cobras after two.  Enter Brandt Weldon.  Weldon tied the game at 4 early on in the third of a Josh Tripp feed, then fired the eventual game winner with 2:10 left in the game, with Jeff Riddell and Riley Morden setting up the goal.  Devon Dubyk turned aside 25 of 29 shots in the Axemen cage, while Rylan Palchewich stopped 38 of 43 Swan Valley shots in the loss.  

After the Christmas break, things fire back up on Friday December 27th with two games, with Preeceville visiting Canora and Esterhazy facing the Imperials in Churchbridge.  Saturday night has the Cote Selects in Preeceville to face the Pats, and the Swan Valley Axemen going to Canora for a rematch with the Cobras.