Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion

It was a good weekend for the Kindersley Sr. Klippers and the team has gotten off to a strong start this season. The team is undefeated after three road games.

The Sr. Klippers sit tied atop the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) standings after three games this season. The team won a pair of road games last weekend beating the Luseland Mallards 8-4 on Nov. 9 and defeating the Macklin Mohawks 6-5 in overtime on the following night.

Kindersley scored three power play goals in seven opportunities in Luseland, and the opposing team only managed one power play goal in three opportunities. Forward Jesse Ismond had an outstanding night in Luseland with seven points (3G, 4A) on the night. Ismond recorded a point on all but one of the team’s eight goals.

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The scoring was more spread out in the 6-5 overtime win in Macklin, but the game was much closer in general. Ismond scored the game-winning goal in overtime, and he added an assist on another goal in the second period.

New additions including forwards Landon Longmire and Kyle Donaldson, and defenceman Brody Ryberg have already made strong contributions early. Longmire has two goals and four assists, Donaldson has a pair of goals and an assist, and Ryberg has a pair of assists in the team’s first three games.

The Sr. Klippers do not play again until Nov. 21, a Wednesday, on the road against the Unity Miners. The team will finally play its home opener three days later on Nov. 24 against the Biggar Nationals. The home opener at the Co-op Arena is scheduled to start at 8 p.m.

Matt Glencross, the team’s first-year head coach, said the team was down a man in Luseland before the game even started because the player was hit in the ear by a puck in the warm up, but the team had a good first period on the road to get up 3-2.

The Klippers were up 6-2 after two periods, and Luseland pushed back in the third period to cut the lead in half by the end of the game. The team fired 47 shots at Mallards goalie Ryan Knapton and only gave up 29 shots against.

Johnny Calkins and Brandon Cummings returned to the line up in Luseland after they served one-game suspensions due to incidents at the end of last season. Glencross said the game could have been more lopsided. Calkins is usually money on breakaway attempts and he did not score on two breakaway chances in the Luseland game, he noted.

Calkins still managed to score twice in Luseland, and he added a goal and two assists in Macklin. Glencross acknowledged the play of rookies Longmire and Donaldson, who are expected to play on a line together for the bulk of the season. He noted that he still has not decided on a consistent wing man to play with the two rookies, but the team has not had its full line up playing together yet this season.

Luke Sproule has played all three games in net for the Klippers this season, and he has recorded a goals against average of 3.99 and a save percentage of .874 in the team’s three wins. The coach said he is pleased with the team’s results thus far.

“It’s definitely nice,” Glencross said, recognizing that he pegged the Mohawks to be the toughest opponent in the team’s first several games. “I expect us to have a pretty good rivalry with Macklin this year. They’re pretty young. They skate well.”

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