Despite a weekend that saw two losses added to the St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens regular season record, the team is heading into the 2016 playoffs on a high, and with a bit of extra confidence.
Friday night’s home game saw the Canadiens face off against the Wainwright Bisons. Despite a hard fought battle, and being up by two goals at one point, the Canadiens would lose to the top-ranked team in the NEAJBHL, 4-3.
Starting off the scoring on Friday was one of the Canadiens’ newer recruits, Morgan Greve. A goal by Kyle Braybrook gave the Canadiens a 2-0 lead over the Bisons. But, a goal by Wainwright before the end of the first would keep things close.
The second period saw the Canadiens again find the net first, with a goal by Zach Sylvestre. And again, a Bisons goal before the end of the period would keep them within reach.
The third period saw the Bisons take control, and score two unanswered goals, giving them the win.
Saturday night, the Canadiens took to the road for a rematch against the Bisons. The home team would score first, but the Canadiens would stay close with a goal in the second by Dyson Roy.
Heading into the third period down by a goal, Canadiens’ Tristan Craighead found the net twice to take the lead, but it was short-lived, and the Bisons would net the equalizer exactly a minute after Craighead’s second goal.
The game would head into overtime, and the Bisons would quickly end the game with the last goal of the night.
“I actually felt like the weekend went pretty good,” says Tanner Hellquist, the Canadiens’ captain, after the game wrapped up. The team had been coming off a strong eight-game win streak, heading into the final two games of the regular season.
Hellquist says ending the season against the Bisons was good to help the team build some confidence. He added that some of the team’s top players, including Mikael Beaudoin and Roddy MacDougall, were out for some of the weekend’s games.
Head coach Joe Young agrees with Hellquist, saying that it was a “good test” to meet up with the Bisons at the end of the season. “Teams like that can be intimidating.”
But, Young said the Canadiens stepped up to the challenge.
“I really like where we’re at right now,” adds Young.
A few weeks ago, the Canadiens took two new players on board, and according to Young and Hellquist, the players are meshing well with the team, on and off the ice.
“They fit in really well,” says Young. He adds that when a team takes on new players, it’s hard to predict how they will fit in, but so far it’s been “a perfect situation.”
Heading into the playoffs, Helllquist says it’s like starting a whole new season.
“We’re going to have to step up our physical game,” he said. When asked if there was anything specific Hellquist felt added to the team’s overall success this season so far, he pointed to the community, and the fans who come out to support the team each week.
“We’re had success on the ice, but there’s been a lot of involvement in the community too. The fans have been great, and we’ve been able to give back,” said Hellquist. “That’s been huge.”
The Canadiens will face the Vegreville Rangers in the first round of playoffs, which start Friday in St. Paul, and continue at home on Saturday. Although the Rangers are lower in the standings than the Canadiens, Hellquist said he knows not to take the team lightly.
“We’ve had success against Vegreville, but that doesn’t mean too much when it comes to playoffs.”
Young agrees, saying the league has been very competitive this year, and if a team isn’t putting the effort forward every night then “you’re going to get beat.”
Last season, the Canadiens fell to the Lloydminster Bandits in game seven of the first round of playoffs.
“It was a tough way to go out (last year). It was awesome that we had the support of the community . . . hopefully we can use that as motivation (this season).”
The Saddle Lake Jr. B Warriors ended their 2015-16 season with a Wednesday night loss against Vegreville, 9-0, and a Saturday night loss against Killam 8-1. The team closed off the season with another 8-1 loss against Onion Lake on Sunday night.
The Warriors finished last in the league with a 3-31-0-2 record. The Vermilion Tigers finished one step higher, in ninth place.
The first round of NEAJBHL playoffs will see the Bisons play the Lloydminster Bandits, while the Killam Wheat Kings will play Frog Lake. The Canadiens will faceoff against the Rangers, and Cold Lake will meet up with Onion Lake.
