Captain Cameron Shorrock of the Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers watches his snapshot find the back of the net during the team’s 5-4 win over the Melfort Mustangs on Sept. 21 at the West Central Events Centre. The Klippers are 4-1 on the season after three games on the weekend.

Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion

The Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers have continued their hot start to the 2018-19 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season with a pair of wins over a span of three games in four nights.

The Klippers won a close game at home against the Melfort Mustangs on Friday night, winning the game by a score of 5-4, and then the team was off to Warman for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League 2018 Showcase. The Klippers split a pair of games at the showcase.

After the Kindersley victory over Melfort on Friday, the two teams faced off at the Legends Centre in Warman on Sunday afternoon. The Klippers entered the game at a perfect 3-0 on the season, but the Mustangs handed them their first loss. Melfort won by a score of 5-3 on Sunday.

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The Klippers were back in action in Warman on Monday night, but the outcome of the second game would be different. Kindersley played the Estevan Bruins, and the Klippers doubled up on Estevan, winning by a score of 4-2.

Kindersley now has four wins and one loss in the young SJHL season. As of Monday night, the Klippers were sitting in first place in their division and second place overall next to the undefeated Nipawin Hawks at five wins and no losses.

Zach Johnson got his first start of the season in the Klippers’ win on Friday, saving 24 of 28 shots on the night. Justen Close started both of the games in Warman. Close stopped 30 of 35 shots in the loss on Sunday, but he bounced back with the team on Monday stopping 24 of 26 shots he faced in the team’s 4-2 win.

Local players were a big part of the win on Monday. Close, a Kindersley product, earned the win while Kyle Bosch and Damon McKenzie of Kindersley chipped in with a goal each. McKenzie, one of the team’s rookies, already has three goals and an assist over his first five games.

Kerrobert’s Brett Neumeier, another one of the team’s rookies, also chipped in against Estevan with his first career goal. Bosch added an assist in the Melfort loss and his five points are enough to give him a share of the team lead.

The team was riding high after the 5-4 win at home on Friday night, but the team suffered a loss in the victory. Josh Fletcher scored two goals and added an assist on Friday night, but he suffered an upper body injury and, according to Coach Clayton Jardine, he is listed as week to week.

Fletcher had scored a goal in each of the team’s two wins on opening weekend against the Battlefords North Stars, and then he added three points in the Melfort win to lead the team at five points in three games. Devon Cyr has stepped up in Fletcher’s absence with a pair of goals in the loss on Sunday and another goal in the win on Monday. Cyr has three goals and an assist for four points in only three games.

In an interview after Monday’s win, Jardine said the team was in good spirits leaving Warman after the win. Estevan was undefeated at 3-0 before the game. Jardine said the team played all right on Sunday, but things started to unravel for the team near the end of the second period.

He noted that Melfort scored a goal with about two minutes left in the second period to make the score 3-2 going into the final frame. The team gave up a pair of goals in the third and could only manage to get one goal back.

Jardine said a lack of discipline was part of the problem on Sunday, so he tried to stress to the players that they have to stay out of the penalty box to be a successful team. He said the team took fewer penalties on Monday, and only gave up one power play goal in a solid win.

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