Jesse Ismond, a key cog on the Red Lions’ offence, waits for a shot from the blueline during action Friday against the Lumsden Monarchs in game one of their provincial series.
Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
The Kindersley Red Lions have their backs against the wall in both league and provincial playoffs.
The squad is down 2-1 in the league series against Macklin and will play game four of the best-of-five Sask West Hockey League semifinals tonight (Wednesday) at 8:30 p.m.
They also hope to be in a game five, which would be played in Macklin on Saturday night.
In the provincial series, the Red Lions are down one game to nothing in the best-of-three second round series.
They lost 5-3 at home Friday night. Game two will be played in Lumsden and if necessary, game three, will be played back in Kindersley Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see the Feb. 28 print edition of The Clarion.’]
League playoffs
Coach Wayne Samson says that the team played some great hockey Saturday in their 5-2 win Saturday in Macklin.
“The guys played great Saturday,” he said. “Before the game, I just told the boys to go out there and have some fun. The boys were loose, they were dancing in the dressing room and having some fun and they took that attitude out on the ice.
“We put Neigum up with Jonny Calkins and Jesse Ismond and Macklin couldn’t touch them, they were flying high. Izzy scored twice and I’m sure he could have had four or five more,” he added.
The Red Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, getting goals from Brandon Cummings, Byron Ismond and Jesse Ismond. In the second, Jesse Ismond would score his second of the game and it was 4-1 after two periods of play. Ethan Wigley would add one more in the third.
Shots on goal in this game were 47-37 in favour of the Mohawks.
The Red Lions were playing without the services of D.Jay McGrath and Tanner McCullough, who couldn’t make the trip, and Cody Hobbs was still nursing an injury.
Samson says that he expects them all to be back for Wednesday’s game.
“I just felt that after Saturday’s game the momentum has now shifted,” said Samson. “I wish we could have played Macklin again Sunday. The guys wanted to get right back on the ice.
“We will have a full squad Wednesday and with the crowd behind us again, we will be strong. We are a confident bunch right now and we expect to win Wednesday,” he added. “We play our best with our backs against the wall and that is where we are right now.”
On Saturday, the Red Lions took just five minor penalties.
“The refs called a great game,” said Samson. “They came up to us before the game and told us to keep it clean and they would let us play. Anything after the whistle they would call. They did just that and allowed the players to decide the game.
“We didn’t let them get in our heads and we didn’t retaliate when we were provoked,” he adds. “We played our style of game and that translated into a win.”
Another key was the goaltender of Luke Sproule, who, according to Samson, played yet another incredible game.
“He was phenomenal,” he said. “He is our backbone there. In the first period, he stopped maybe two or three breakaways and some odd-man rushes to keep us in the game.”
Last Wednesday’s 4-3 loss in Kindersley was a battle right down to the end.
The teams exchanged goals in the opening frame with Byron Ismond and Jonny Calkins scoring for the Red Lions.
The Mohawks scored the lone goal of the second to make it 3-2 going into the final frame.
Byron Ismond scored his second goal of the game, just past the midway point of the period, but the Mohawks would score late, at the 3:19 mark to the disappointment of the crowd.
Shots on goal were 48-41 in favour of the Mohawks.
Provincials
The Lumsden Monarchs came into Kindersley on Friday and played a great game, earning a solid 5-3 win.
“I thought they came in here and played a good road game,” said Samson. “Their goaltender played well for them, but I thought we outplayed them in the end. We had a lot of chances and we missed a lot of opportunities.”
He said going into game two, they aren’t going to change the way they play.
“We aren’t going to change the way we are playing, other than maybe get some more traffic in front of the net, but other than that we will just get out there, work hard and try and convert more of our chances,” said Samson.
Extra players added for provincials and playing in game one were: Chris Forsman, Josh Sim, Andrew Dommett, Bryton Sayers, Travis Statchuk and goaltender Jeff Malcolm.
[/emember_protected]
