Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion

The Kindersley Sr. Klippers have started a provincial playoff series and among the team’s additions for provincials are several Jr. Klippers alumni.

Kindersley’s opening round match up for Senior A provincials is the Watrous Winterhawks and the first game of a best-of-three series was played last night in Watrous. The result could not be published due to the Clarion’s editorial deadline on Tuesdays.

The second game of the series is scheduled for Feb. 11 at the Co-op Arena in Kindersley at 8:30 p.m. If necessary, the series will shift back to Watrous for a third game. The team has brought in several players for provincials, but there are still 16 players from the team’s regular roster.

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A total of nine players that did not play for the Sr. Klippers during league play have been added to the provincials roster, and all nine of them have played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Five of the imports played junior hockey in Kindersley.

The nine imports are Troy Schwab, Josh Thorimbert, David Haaf, Josh Sim, Kelsey Muench, Dan Bauer, Adam Antkowiak, Kristian St. Onge and Braden Lacoursiere. Schwab, Thorimbert, Muench, Haaf and Sim played junior in Kindersley.

As for the junior hockey history of the other four imports, Bauer played for the Nipawin Hawks, Antkowiak played for the Humboldt Broncos, St. Onge played for the Flin Flon Bombers and Lacoursiere played for both the Bombers and the Battlefords North Stars. Schwab and Muench also spent time playing in the East Coast Hockey League, and several of the imports also have experience in the NCAA.

Brady Newmeyer, team manager for the Sr. Klippers, said the team lucked out with its pick ups because several of the imports contacted the team and asked to play. Thorimbert and Bauer are goalies, so the team has three goalies on its provincials roster. Luke Sproule, the team’s top goalie in league play, is on the roster.

The manager said the team even picked up players from other SWHL teams. Muench plays for the Luseland Mallards while Lacoursiere and St. Onge play for the Unity Miners, but neither of their teams entered provincials this season and they were available.

Schwab ended up on the roster after a bit of joking around among friends. Newmeyer said he and Clayton Artymovich, the team’s president, are friends with Schwab and they were throwing around the idea of Schwab coming back to play provincials for the newly renamed Sr. Klippers, and Schwab told them he would think about it.

He noted that Schwab decided to play, and it is good for the team. He said the provincials team is an older team than the Sr. Klippers league team, but teams are pretty much forced to pick up players for provincials for various reasons.

Newmeyer said the team is not allowed to have imports in the SWHL, so managers and coaches put together a team to make a run at a Senior A provincial title. The younger members on the team’s league roster are the future, but the team lucked out with its imports and it is built to win now, he said.

“It was pretty hard not to put this team together and it’s going to be an exciting group,” Newmeyer said, recognizing that the team has a lot of veteran leadership and a lot of talent. “We’re excited for this whole thing to start.”

The manager said when the team was being put together its provincials roster, they focused on connections to the community. In addition to the imports that played junior in Kindersley, league roster members Troy Boisjoli, Johnny Calkins, Kyle Donaldson, Shayne Neigum and Brody Ryberg also played junior hockey in town. He added that it will be a tough series to start versus the Winterhawks.

Coach Matt Glencross said he looks forward to coaching the team in provincials with its revamped line up. He said he looks forward to seeing the team in action, but he is particularly looking forward to having Schwab, who has coached professional hockey, back in a Klippers jersey.

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provincials