Honkings from the Wild Goose; Week 1

Before we look at the games that happened this previous weekend (apologies for the no preview column), a little history lesson of the new name of the column. This year, we’ll be covering both the Sask West Hockey League and the Crossroads Hockey League, and to honour both leagues and the history of most of these teams, the move was made to rename the column. The Wild Goose Hockey operated from 1959 to 2008, but its heyday was the 1980’s, where teams from Wilkie, Unity, Macklin, Kerrobert, Rosetown, Kindersley and Biggar all competed. Former members included Eston, Battleford, Meadow Lake and Lloydminster. From the Cey Brothers competing in both Wilkie and Unity, to the famous story of how Robin Bartel landed as an Outlaw. Who can forget Greg Paslawski playing for the Kindersley Klippers before rising through the ranks to be a serviceable NHL player. The league truly had it all. 

Sask West 

Only one game on opening weekend, as the inaugural game for the Asquith Admirals came to fruition. This is the communities first taste of Senior hockey since the Canadians played for a short stint in the Sask Valley Hockey League in the early 2000’s. The Canadians also played for 4 seasons in the Saskatchewan Intermediate “A” Hockey League from 1979-1983.  

The Admirals travelled to Biggar to visit the Nationals on Saturday night, with Biggar coming away with the 6-5 overtime victory. 

Taylor Bucsis was the lone goal scorer of the opening frame, giving Biggar the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Just 30 seconds into the 2nd period, the answer to a trivia question happened, with Linden McCorrister scoring the Admirals first ever goal. This tied the game at 1. Brett Novak would give the hometown team the 2-1 lead just three minutes after that. Caleb Grandfield would once again tie the game up at 2, but Nationals newcomer Brody Vogel gave the Nats the 3-2 lead, which held after 2 periods. The flood gates opened in the 3rd, with Thien Gamble (Admirals), Dylan Haynes (Nationals) and McCorrister all scored within the first 5 minutes to settle the score at 4. Bucsis would give Biggar the 5-4 lead, but that held for a whole 20 seconds as McCorristers third of the night tied it right back up at 5. We headed to OT looking like that, and Brody Vogel would send the home fans away happy.  

Carter Woodside stopped 34 of 40 shots in the OTL, while Mason Briske collected his first win as a National, stopping 37 of 42 shots. 

Crossroads 

On Halloween night, the Kerrobert Tigers hosted the Kindersley Kodiaks, with the away team coming up with the big 3-2 win. Stats were unavailable at the time. 

Also on Friday, the two newest additions (and old Wild Goose rivals) in the Rosetown Red Wings and the Unity Miners met at the Unity Community Centre. The visiting Red Wings came away with a 7-4 victory. Stats were unavailable at the time. 

On Saturday night, the homeless Dodsland Stars invaded the Kerrobert Memorial Hanger to host the Luseland Mallards, and left with a convincing 9-1 victory. 

Troy Joyce opened the scoring just four minutes into the game, Brandon Kelly added to the lead just 12 seconds later. Late in the first frame, the Stars scored in doubles again as Kelly and Carson Dobson lit the lamp just 50 seconds apart, as they headed to intermission with a 4-0 lead. No scoring occurred in the middle frame. Tyler Birn would break up the shutout bid in the early stages of the third. Dodsland would pour it on after that, as Kelly would score his hattrick goal, followed by Jon McDonald, Dobson twice more and Jaxon Walz to round out scoring. 

Sam Walz took the loss stopping 48 shots, while Connor Kidd stopped 16 shots in the win.  

History Lesson 

We already gave you a lot this week, but remember when you put classified ads in the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix to help find players, coaches and managers? It absolutely was a different time. 

Upcoming Games 

Sask West 

• Saturday November 8th; Kindersley at Biggar (8pm).  

• Sunday November 9th; Biggar at Edam (played at Turtleford at 5:30pm), Asquith at Wilkie (6:30pm) 

Crossroads 

• Friday November 7th; Rosetown at Luseland (8pm), Kindersley at Unity (8:30pm) 

• Saturday November 8th; Kerrobert at Luseland (8pm)