SWHL This Week; Playoff Week 7

Sask West This Week 

The Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) finals opened Friday night in Wilkie as the 1 seed Outlaws hosted the 2 seed Kindersley Klippers, and in a twist fit for a WCW show at the Omni Theatre, it was the Klippers coming away with a 4-3 victory. Kindersley leads the best of 5 series 1-0. 

No scoring was recorded in the opening frame, with Klippers goaltender Logan Drackett nailing up the plywood and keeping the Outlaws snipers at bay. Eventually, on the power play in the early stages of the 2nd, Brett Boehm would score to put the home team up 1-0., but Troy Boisjoli responded just three minutes later to tie it up. The Klippers barrage would continue as Kyle Donaldson scored to put Kindersley up 2-1. Damon McKenzie and Jonny Calkins added to the lead within minutes of each other. Wilkie stepped up their game immensely after a subpar 40 minutes, but it felt like too little, too late. Rick Cey would score 2 goals to bring the Outlaws deficit down to 4-3 but it was as close as they would get. 

Drackett stopped 45 of 48 shots in the win, while Jared Herle took the loss, stopping 15 of 19 shots. 

Game 2 of the SWHL finals took place Sunday evening at the West Central Events Centre, with the Outlaws winning in convincing fashion 6-1. The series is now tied at 1. 

Ryan Keller and Brock Harrison opened the scoring for the visitors early, and with the huge difference in shots, helped lead their team to a 2-0 lead after 1 period. In the middle frame, Rick Cey would extend that lead before Lane Gilliss would cut it back down to 2. Brett Boehm’s power play marker at the mid point of the period gave Wilkie the 4-1 lead, which held until the 2nd period buzzer went. In the 3rd, Cey (short handed) and Derek Keller would add some insurance. 

Jared Herle stopped 27 of 28 shots in the win, while Logan Drackett stopped 48 of 54 shots in the loss. 

In Provincials, the North Champions Wilkie Outlaws will face the Kyle Elks of the Sask Valley Hockey League in the Senior ‘C’ Provincial final. The South Champion Elks have the hammer in the best of 3 series. 

In Senior ‘D’, the Macklin Mohawks knocked off the Delisle Bruins 3-0 in game 2 of the best of 3 North finals. The Mohawks move onto the Provincial final where they face the South Champion Redvers Rockets of the Big Six Hockey League. The Rockets have the hammer in the best of 3 series.