Damon McKenzie of the Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers beats a pair of Weyburn Red Wings defenders to break in on goaltender Cody Levesque during third period action of the Klippers’ 6-2 win on Nov. 17 at the West Central Events Centre. While the Kindersley native did not light the lamp on the attempt, the Klippers rookie did score the opening goal of the game.
Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers have been busy making transactions and one of the team’s new acquisitions made his presence felt in a win on Saturday.
The Klippers acquired a pair of forwards last week and the team split a pair of home games at the same time. Kindersley hosted the Melfort Mustangs on Nov. 14 and Weyburn Red Wings on Nov. 17 at the West Central Events Centre (WCEC).
Melfort won a close game by a score of 3-1, but Kindersley bounced back with a 6-2 win over Weyburn on Saturday. Ty Enns, a 20-year-old forward, is the newest Klipper and he played in the win over Weyburn. The newcomer scored a goal and added a pair of assists to make an immediate impact for his new team.
The Klippers acquired Enns from the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in exchange for a Player Development Fee. Enns had 18 points (5G, 13A) in 23 games with the Pontiacs this season. He also picked up four penalty minutes in the Weyburn game.
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Clayton Jardine, the Klippers’ head coach and general manager, made another acquisition earlier in the week when he acquired Noah Bankowski, 19, from the Notre Dame Hounds in exchange for a Player Development Fee.
Bankowski, who played midget AAA with Kyle Bosch in Saskatoon, had 14 points (6G, 8A) in 24 games with the Hounds this season. He suited up for both of the team’s games last week, and got his first point as a Klipper recording an assist on Kindersley’s second goal in the 6-2 win. Enns is from Cartwright, Man., and Bankowski is from Saskatoon.
The Melfort game did not start well for the home team. Kindersley had 14 shots in the first period compared to only nine for Melfort, but the Mustangs were up 2-0 after 20 minutes. The Klippers cut the deficit in half early in the third period on a goal by Will Van der Sloot.
It was as close as Kindersley would get to the Mustangs and Melfort would add an empty net goal after the Klippers pulled goalie Justen Close to get an extra attacker. Close stopped 23 out of 25 shots in the loss.
The Klippers have been struggling to score, and the team has also been trying to exorcise its struggles in second periods. The team had an excellent second period on Saturday night in its win over Weyburn scoring four times and only allowing one goal against.
The scoring was also spread out in the 6-2 win with six different players lighting the lamp. The goals were scored by Damon McKenzie, Caden Benson, Cameron Shorrock, Connor Karo, Clay Keely and Enns. Keely also added a pair of assists, and both Austin Nault and Van der Sloot recorded a pair of assists each.
Goalie Zach Johnson started his seventh game of the season and he stopped 32 out of 34 shots in the win. The Klippers fired 44 shots at Red Wings goalies and chased starter Riley Lamb after the second period.
The Klippers were sitting in third place in their division as of Tuesday with 31 points and a record of 14-7-2-1. The team’s next three games are on the road against Battlefords, Notre Dame and Humboldt – all divisional opponents. The Klippers sit one point behind the North Stars with two games in hand, so Saturday’s game is a big one.
Jardine, the head coach and general manager, admitted to being busy with roster moves since last week. Bankowski and Enns came in while forward Ian Hillis is out to clear some space on the roster. The coach said Hillis, who had one goal in 14 games this season, is being moved to Junior B.
He noted that Bankowski and Enns are acquisitions that he made to try to spark the offence. He said the rest of the players are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to score, so it was nice to see the team come out of its shell on Saturday.
According to Jardine, Enns showed up at the WCEC about an hour prior to Saturday’s game. The team added skill with the acquisitions of Enns and Bankowski, but both of the players will have to get used to being part of a team with hard work and determination at its core.
The Mustangs are sitting in second place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League standings behind the first-place Humboldt Broncos, and Jardine recognized that Melfort is a good team and goalie Hunter Arps played a great game. He said the hot goaltending made a difference in the team’s 3-1 loss.
Jardine said the team just has to work harder to score. The Klippers are still playing well tied for fifth place in the overall standings. The coach said the team cannot get caught up watching the standings at this point in the season.
The Klippers went 3-for-6 on the power play against Weyburn and the coach said it was nice to see the power play production, but the team also buried its chances in 5-on-5 play and it was also nice to see. With three straight games coming up on the road against divisional opponents, it is time to send a message.
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