Honkings from the Wild Goose; Week 2

Honkings from the Wild Goose 

Both leagues have a weekend or two under their belts at this point, with some exciting action happening. We’ll dive into standings next week. 

Sask West 

Saturday night at ‘The Jube’ saw the Biggar Nationals host the Kindersley Klippers, with the Klippers winning by a score of 7-2. 

Brody Vogel would open the scoring early in the first for the Nats, but Jaxon Georget would tie things up at 1. Shayne Neigum would give the away team the 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. In the 2nd, it was all Klippers as Brody Ryberg and Troy Boisjoli (with two goals) would extend the lead to 5-1. In the final stanza, Deegan German would open the gap to 6-1, but Taylor Bucsis would cut it back down to 4. Damon McKenzie would tie a bow on the victory. 

Logan Drackett stopped 46 of 48 shots in the win, while Mason Briske stopped 25 of 32 shots in the loss. 

On Sunday evening, the Nationals headed north to Turtleford for a neutral site game against the Edam 3 Stars. Edam won 5-2. 

No scoring was reported in the first, and it took almost halfway into the middle frame before Jaxon Penner finally opened the scoring for Edam. That lead would last for 4 minutes as Brody Vogel would tie it up at 1, and Jonathan Redlick’s first of the year would give the Nats the 2-1 lead. Mitch Wall would tie it up back at 2, which is what the scoreboard read after 40 minutes. It was all Edam in the 3rd, as Tristan Derenoski would give the 3 stars the 3-2 lead, followed by Owen LaClare and Keegan Tiringer to wrap up the win. 

Mason Briske was peppered, stopping 60 of 65 shots in the loss, while Taryn Kotchorek stopped 19 of 21 shots in the win. 

Also on Sunday, the Wilkie Outlaws welcomed the Asquith Admirals into town. The Outlaws came away with a convincing 7-1 win. 

In the first, Outlaw goals came from Rory Gregoire, Rob Cey and Ryne Keller. The barrage continued in the 2nd, with goals from Blake Young, Lyndon Ochs and Derek Keller. Derek would add to the lead again in the third to make it 7-0. Asquith would finally break up the shutout with 1:46 left on the penalty kill with a goal from Caleb Grandfield. 

Carter Woodside stopped 58 of 65 shots in the loss, while Jared Herle stopped 20 of 21 shots in the victory. 

Cross Roads 

On Friday night, the Rosetown Red Wings headed west to Luseland for a matchup against the Mallards, and it was the travelling team leaving with a 6-4 victory. 

Luseland held the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes thanks to Kyle Heintz. In the middle stanza, Jordan Johnston would tie it up at 1 early, but Steve Gottfried would give the Mallards the 2-1 lead. Johnston would once again tie it up; however, Heintz and Hoel Dewald would give Luseland the 4-2 lead after 40. The red Wings would explode in the third as Johnston's hattrick goal, along with Walker Doetzel’s first of the year would knot it up at 4. Eric Robbie would score the game winner, with Johnston’s 4th of the night on an empty net would further cement the victory. 

Noah Martens stopped 33 of 37 shots in the win, while Avery Kohlman took the loss, stopping 43 of 49 shots. 

Also on Friday, the Kindersley Kodiaks headed up to Unity for a game against the Miners, with Unity securing the 4-2 win. 

Garin Scherr opened the scoring early on the power play, with Justin Gerien scoring 2 goals in 3 minutes to give the Miners a commanding 3-0 lead after 1 period. The Kodiaks would slowly crawl back, due to Unity getting into penalty trouble. Seth Krahn would score on the power play in the 2nd, and Jayden Holland would cut the lead to 3-2 just past the midway point of the final frame. With 1:17 left, Brayden Schultz would tie a bow on Unity’s first CRHL win.  

Ryan Deck took the loss, stopping 25 of 29 shots, while Noah Gumpinger stopped 21 of 23 shots for the win. 

Saturday’s game between the Luseland Mallards and Kerrobert Tigers was postponed to a later date. 

History Lesson 

In honour of Unity’s first win since 2023 (a 5-4 win against the Macklin Mohawks), let’s look at the 1996 Allan Cup, the once prestigious Senior AAA hockey tournament. From 1920 to 1963, the winner would be the Canadian rep at the Winter Olympics and the World Championships. From April 8th to 13th of that year, all eyes were on Unity as the Miners, Stony Plain Eagles, Truro TSN Bearcats and eventual champion Warroad Lakers (based in Warroad, Minnesota) played the 88th Allan Cup. Warroad would win their 3rd straight tourney with a 6-1 win over the Eagles.  Locals on the Unity team included Todd Chorney, Jeff Perlinger, Russ Rogers and Pat Sperle. 

Upcoming games 

Sask West 

• Friday November 14th: Biggar at Wilkie (8:30pm), Asquith at Macklin (8:30pm) 

• Saturday November 15th: Kindersley at Biggar (8pm) 

Cross Roads 

• Friday November 14th: Unity at Kindersley (7:30pm), Rosetown at Dodsland (in Kerrobert at 8pm) 

• Saturday November 15th: Kindersley at Rosetown (7:30pm)