Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
The Kindersley Red Lions will take on Biggar in the first round of playoffs.
The Red Lions closed out their Sask West Hockey League season with a win and a loss to finish the season with a record of 11 wins, seven loses and two overtime losses for 24 points, just one behind the Macklin Mohawks and 14 behind the first-place Wilkie Outlaws, who suffered just one loss this season.
The Red Lions kicked off the weekend by hosting the Kerrobert Tigers on Friday nigh. Penalties got them in trouble in a 7-4 loss.
“We played short 14 of the 20 minutes in the second period. You just have to stay out of the penalty box,” said coach Wayne Samson. “It cost us the hockey game and overall, we just didn’t look good at all.”
The Tigers started the scoring a minute and a half into the game, before the Red Lions picked it up and scored three straight with Byron Ismond, Brandon Cummings and Jesse Ismond finding the back of the net.
It was all Kerrobert from then on. They outshot the Red Lions 17-5 in the second and 14-4 in the third and controlled the game.
The Tigers scored the lone goal of the second period and outscored the Red Lions 5-1 in the final period to take the game. Brandon Cummings scored the lone goal for the Red Lions.
Overall, the Tigers outshot the Red Lions 41-22.
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After Friday’s game, the Red Lions were settled in at third place and several players decided not to make the trip to Luseland. But the squad still ended up with a 9-8 shootout win.
“We only had nine skaters in this one, but we had the right nine I guess,” said Samson. “They showed a lot of heart and effort with our captain leading the way again.”
He added that there were a lot of positives that came out in this one, with a new line being formed.
The line of Byron Ismond, Ethan Wigley and Jon Haughn combined for 12 points to get the win.
It was 2-2 after one and 6-4 in favour of Luseland after two periods.
Jon Haughn scored the shootout winner.
Providing the offence was Wigley (4), Brandon Cummings with two and Jonny Calkins and Byron Ismond with one each.
Shots were 69-57 in favour of the Red Lions, with Travis Vogel stopping 25 of 27 in the first 26:42 of the game. According to Samson, he was hit up high on one of the shots and was taken out due to precautionary reasons. Luke Sproule stopped 24 of 30 the rest of the way.
Alex Orth was in net for the Mallards and stopped 61 of 69 shots in the loss.
“It was a definite confidence booster for some of the guys. I think Wigley said he hasn’t scored four goals in a game since peewee, so this was very positive as we head into playoffs,” said Samson.
Samson said that the squad is looking forward to taking on Biggar in the playoffs.
Biggar finished sixth in the standings with a record of 9-10-1. The teams met twice, with Kindersley losing by scores of 6-5 and 9-8.
Samson said there are a couple of keys to get wins against them.
“We have to make sure that we stay out of the box,” he said. “We also have to use our depth to our advantage. If we can roll four lines, we can be successful.
“Biggar is a very pesky team. They keep coming at you and they never quit,” he adds. “Fans should expect a very good series, with two teams that can really skate.”
This best-of-three series will begin on Thursday in Biggar, followed by game two in Kindersley at 8:30 p.m. Game three, if necessary, will be played Feb. 7 back in Kindersley, starting at 8:30 p.m.
The Red Lions are also preparing for provincial playoffs against Shaunavon. Game 1 of this series will be played on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Kindersley, followed by game two Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. in Shaunavon and Feb. 11, again in Shaunavon beginning at 2:30 p.m.
In other SWHL playoff matches: Wilkie takes on Luseland; Macklin takes on Kerrobert; and Eatonia takes on Unity.
Final standings: 1. Wilkie 19 wins, 1 loss, 0 overtime losses and 38 points; 2. Macklin 12-7-1-25; 3. Kindersley 11-7-2-24; 4. Eatonia 9-7-4-22; 5. Unity 9-10-1-19; 6. Biggar 9-10-1-19; 7. Kerrobert 7-11-2-16; 8. Luseland 4-15-1-9.
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