By Mike Stackhouse /

The road to the Royal Bank Cup continues as Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action heads towards Christmas.

Battlefords North Stars
The North Stars have to be happy to see a number of their players take that natural step forward after becoming a year older. Brett Miller, a former first-round WHL Bantam Draft selection, is the October Player Of The Month in the SJHL, and he leads the club in scoring. Ryan Andersen and Shay Neufeld are examples of other players who have become a year better in addition to being a year older. Neufeld has been a fantastic story after struggling as a rookie in Melfort and ending up in Camrose by the end of the season before getting a training-camp trade to Battlefords.

Estevan Bruins
Estevan head coach Karry Biette made no secret about his desire to secure a top-flight veteran goalie and he made good on his search in mid-November by acquiring Chris Neamonitis from the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Neamonitis, in his first six starts, didn’t allow more than two goals in any one game. Still, the Bruins are looking up at the rest of the conference as they head to Dec. 1. Twenty-year-old forward Chad Filteau is enjoying a solid individual season, although the club isn’t reaping the same benefits in the win column. Filteau is amongst the SJHL’s top point getters.

Flin Flon Bombers
The Bombers destroyed Weyburn 12-1 in a game played on Nov. 20, sending Bomber fever amongst their fans to highs not seen since the turn of the decade when the team hosted the RBC Cup. Mike Rey, brought in from Nipawin earlier this season, put up six points in that game and he’s a legitimate threat to win the league scoring title. Head coach Mike Reagan’s makeover continues with former WHLer Ryan Fox coming aboard. The Creighton native scored in his first game. Netminder Matt Weninger earned back-to-back Goalie Of The Week awards in November.

Humboldt Broncos
Humboldt is in unfamiliar territory as they wrestle with getting over the .500 mark. Scoring goals has been a challenge, at times, and so has been keeping them out. The powerplay has been ordinary and overall intensity has been inconsistent. Dean Brockman has attempted to shake things up by sending Griffin Lacey back to Ontario and trading Mitch Dougall to Manitoba. Kirk Croswell has been added from British Columbia to aid Andrew Bodnarchuk between the pipes. Last year’s playoff hero, Mathieu Larochelle, isn’t expected to return after suffering an injury earlier in the year.

Kindersley Klippers
The Klippers may be the surprise of the league after watching their top players from last season graduate. Kindersley sits near the top of the standings with Jordan Braid setting the pace on offence. Andrew Dommett had a hat-trick in a game against Estevan on Nov. 20 and he’s well over a point per game at the halfway mark of the schedule. Former Brandon WHLer Sanfred King scored three goals in his first four games. Assistant coach Trevor Weisgerber guided the club to a 5-and-1 record while Larry Wintoneak attended the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge.

La Ronge Ice Wolves
The Ice Wolves have cooled, slightly, after a hot start. The team is giving up an average of more than four goals a game since late October. Nevertheless, they are continuing to find ways to score and Marc-Andre Carre has been a big part of that, recording 15 points in 12 games through late November. Taylor Piller was acquired from Humboldt during the offseason, but was injured early on and missed 16 games before returning in the early part of the month. He gives the team another top-six quality forward.

Melfort Mustangs
Darrell Mann is making it a habit of acquiring 20-year-old goalies at the beginning of November. He did it last year with David Tetrault as well as the year before when Ilia Ejov was the major acquisition. He’s at it again now with Chris Ward joining the team from the MJHL’s Swan Valley Stampeders. Ward was shortlisted for the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge last year and guided the Stamps to a near first-round playoff upset as an 18-year-old against eventual league champion Portage. As the Dec. 1 roster cutdown deadline approached, Mann was still looking for an energy forward capable of contributing offense.

Melville Millionaires
A slow start (just three wins in their first 11 games) makes it hard to keep up in the parity filled Sherwood Conference. But the Mils were closer to the top half of the standings than the bottom half as December 1 approached. There has been some tweaking with Brayden Metz coming back from the Regina Pats, defenceman Bobby Janzen joining the team from Melfort, and rookie forward Mark Owen sliding into the lineup in a futures deal with La Ronge. The Mils may also be the only team in Canada to have two players on the roster from Sandwich, Massachusetts. Defenceman Tyler Howe convinced friend Sean Gallagher to head north and west in early November.

Nipawin Hawks
The Hawks overhauled the roster in early November by shipping out Kyle Hamm, Mike Rey, and Kory Kimpinski (all impact players), exchanging them for Scott Brkich, Tanner Dusyk, and Ryan Kerpan. Kerpan has provided much-needed stability in goal, where he continues to be near the top of the league in goals-against average. Dusyk, who’s just 17 years old, is already on the top line and flourishing alongside Alexandre Leclerc and Matthew Spafford. Brkich has moved into the No. 2 defence role behind Taylor Thiessen.

Notre Dame Hounds
The flu bug hurt the Hounds as they were forced to cancel three games in late October. The month of November has seen the team identify their top offensive players thanks to a powerplay that went 9-for-22 during a seven-game stretch in mid-November. Kyle Ireland had seven goals and 12 points in seven games, while Travis Janke, Trevor Cameron, and Andy Smith also put up double-digit point figures over that same time frame. Smith will finish out his junior career with the Hounds after spending time in the Western Hockey League with Prince Albert and Chilliwack.

Weyburn Red Wings
The Red Wings are still making no secret about their desire to trade one of their 20-year-old goalies. AJ Whiffen and Tanner Erickson have given the club a chance to win every night and the team has taken advantage by setting the standard with the league’s best record. The Wings figure to get only stronger if they are able to turn one of those netminders into a skating asset. A wake up call was made in late November when the Wings went into the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon and scored just two goals in two games (both losses).

Yorkton Terriers
The Terriers still have three goalies on the roster and all three appear to be No. 1 material. Luke Boechler had shutouts in three of his first six starts, and he’s supposed to be the backup to either Devin Peters or Joel Danyluk. Clarke Breitkreuz was missed while he was attending the World Junior A Challenge, as the Terriers were just 2-5 without him. Goal scoring continues to plague the team as they are averaging under three goals per game for the season and under two goals per game during the month
of November.