CANORA STEALS HOME ICE ADVANTAGE

Sunday, March 16 th marked the start of the SEHL Finals, as the Canora Cobras journeyed to
Rocanville to face the Tigers in a rematch of last year’s final. Last season, the Tigers swept
away an exhausted Cobras side that had nothing left in the tank after a riveting, come-from-
behind victory over the Swan Valley Axemen in the North final. This year, Canora is determined
to see a different result.

Little recap first, the Cobras got to the SEHL Final series after sweeping the Wapella
Blackhawks aside in two straight games in Round 1, then eliminating the Theodore Buffalos in
four games in Round 2. Meanwhile, Rocanville handily took care of the Churchbridge Imperials
in a Round 1 sweep. Next, the Tigers dominated the upstart Esterhazy Flyers in Round 2,
recording a three-game sweep to set up the Finals.

The two teams are a contrast in styles. The Tigers, who are a veteran crew, seem to rely on a
puck possession game. Rocanville has arguably the deepest roster in the league and only lost
once during the regular season. On the other side, Canora is an eclectic mix of smaller speed
demons and larger, aggressive bodies. The entire Cobras team is willing to play any style
necessary and seems to have an “us against the world” mentality that works for them.

Game 1 of the SEHL finals started well for the defending champions, as longtime Tiger
Stephane Fouillard converted on the powerplay to stake Rocanville to a 1-0 lead with 9:39 left in
the first, with assists to Taylor Thompson and Troy Hamilton. The tone was set early, with lots of
post-whistle scrums and off-puck action. Rocanville killed a Ryan Regel high-sticking penalty
and Canora’s PK held back the Tigers on a Matt Wilgosh roughing penalty, before the first
period ended 1-0 for the Tigers.

Second period, the Tigers struck quickly, with Jordan Robertson cashing a Dillan Reavie feed to
put Rocanville up 2-zip. For Canora, it was looking like a repeat of last season’s final series,
until first year Cobra (and one of the x-factor’s in the series) Derrick Schwartz potted his sixth
goal of the postseason, assisted by Logan Foster and Carter Dereniwsky about halfway through
the second period. About a minute and a half later, with the Tigers’ Devin McGonigal in the
penalty box for holding, Scott Mikoski (from Schwartz and Cody Dubas) rifled a shot past
Rocanville’s Ben Fouillard to tie the game at 2 heading into the third period.

With all the momentum, Canora turned up the heat early in the third period, as Kody Rock set
up Troy Zulyniak to give the Cobras a 3-2 lead. Not to be outdone, Brett Duczek took a
Schwartz pass and staked Canora to a 4-2 lead with 11:46 remaining. The Tigers, suddenly
staring at their first regulation loss this season, quickly responded as Regel and Ashley Howie
combined to set up Jacob Tibbatts, cutting the Cobras’ lead to 4-3 with 11:18 left. Pushing for
the tying goal, the Tigers ended up causing Canora’s Tanner Mark to take a slashing penalty
with 8:57 left in the period. Canora ended up killing off the penalty, and held back the Tigers’
push until Foster notched an empty-netter off an Austin Severson pass to make the final score
5-3 Canora.

Brad Sentes recorded the win in the Cobras’ net, while Fouillard took the lost for the Tigers.
Game 2 is set for Friday, March 21 st at 8PM in Canora.