By Mike Stackhouse /

The SJHL campaign is well underway; here’s some news and notes from around the league.

BATTLEFORDS NORTH STARS
The North Stars are off to a solid start, competing for top spot in the Bauer Conference and doing it with excellent play in goal, on the blueline, and up front. Kyle Birch has emerged as one of the better starting netminders in the league, and Graham Hildebrand is a more than capable back up. The return of Woody Klassen from the WHL bolstered the defence, although he was injured during a game in Weyburn on October 9th.  The trio of Josh Daley, Shay Neufeld, and Blake Peake is as good as any No. 1 forward unit in the league right now.
 
ESTEVAN BRUINS
Consistency has been a major issue for the Bruins, who are struggling to get above the .500 mark. Following a 5-2 loss in Yorkton on Oct. 14, head coach Karry Biette addressed the troops by telling them games in October matter when it comes to the final outcome in the standings due to the league having a great deal of parity. The roster has been juggled as of late with Kyle Harty coming in from Steinbach of the MJHL and netminder Riley Hengen reassigned to reduce the goalie numbers to two. The starter, Derek Tendler, has already been on the Regina WHL shuttle a couple of times.

FLIN FLON BOMBERS
After a slow start, the Bombers are back on track with solid goaltending from veteran Matt Weninger, who was named the SJHL Goalie Of The Week for the period ending Oct. 11 and a runner-up for the honour on Oct. 18. Through a dozen games, Devin Mitzner is firing at almost a goal-per-game clip. The club traded for rookie forward Darren Gillen out of the BCHL to add depth up front. Oddly, Andrew Johnston failed to crack Canada West for the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge, despite getting off to an excellent start with 12 points in 12 games.

HUMBOLDT BRONCOS
Despite a record that hovered around .500 for the first month of the season, head coach Dean Brockman seemed pretty content with the three-time Credit Union Cup champions. “It’s a work in progress and we have a lot of new guys,” said Brockman. The powerplay has been a struggle, converting just 15% of the time. Mathieu Larochelle, the netminder who backstopped the team to the RBC Cup finals, suffered a concussion and has returned home until he is deemed symptom free. The play of Cam Gibson has been a revelation, as he has come back from a season lost to injury to become one of the club’s top scorers.

KINDERSLEY KLIPPERS
The Klippers are defying the odds by competing for top spot in the Sherwood Conference with a 17-year-old goalie leading the way. Josh Thorimbert, who is still eligible to return to the Saskatoon Blazers of the SMAAAHL, went 5-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage through his first six games. Players like Travis Eggum, Andrew Dommett, and Johnny Calkins have all taken giant steps forward to become offensive stars. The acquisition of Justin Bertow in mid-October should make them tougher.

LA RONGE ICE WOLVES
The surprise of the league is, surprisingly, deep in just about every area now that Ben Findlay has become a bonafide first liner. Findlay has combined with Doug Lindensmith and Travis Gordon to form one of the best forward units in the league. The team is in the running for first place despite suffering some long-term injuries to prominent players like Taylor Piller, Leo Lacourciere, and Kirk Moore. The netminding, with unproven Adam Bartko and rookie American Chris Jackson, has been adequate.

MELFORT MUSTANGS
The Mustangs reeled off four wins in a row just to get back into the mix of the extremely tight Bauer Conference in mid-October. They should become better with rookie defenceman Lee Christensen coming back from injury. Christensen was deemed good enough by Canada West evaluators to crack the club that will compete at the World Junior ‘A’ Hockey Challenge in PEI. This, despite playing in just three of the team’s first 11 games. Another player back from injury layoff is rookie Stefan Harrington, a speedster from Sudbury, Ont. He had three goals and four points in his first five games.

MELVILLE MILLIONAIRES
The Millionaires got off to a very slow start and found themselves re-evaluating after an 11 game start that saw them go just 3-6-2. Defensive play has been inconsistent, at best. Defenceman Austin Krahenbil was lost for eight games due to a suspension and Jordan Reeve suffered a serious injury that may keep him out until Christmas. Twenty-year-old Brady Wilyman has been given the No. 1 goaltender job, a role he’s never had as a junior, and his back up is 16-year-old Zach Rakochy. However, head coach Jamie Fiesel says he is not panicking to make a trade just for the sake of changing names on the back of sweaters.

NIPAWIN HAWKS
The Hawks don’t have many secrets when it comes to production. They’ll rely on the top line of Mike Rey, Matthew Spafford, and Kory Kimpinski and also hope Taylor Thiessen, Kyle Hamm, and Cory Hodgins will anchor the defence. To this point, the results have been mixed as the Hawks dipped two games under .500 following losses in mid-October. The team definitely works hard for head coach Colin O’Hara. The penalty kill has to get better, working at 73.6% efficiency as of press time.

NOTRE DAME HOUNDS
The Hounds have off-ice issues that have to be cleared up before they start to focus on the standings. In mid-October Saskatchewan Health issued a press release stating the school would be quarantined for five days to safe guard against any effects of a possible H1N1 scare. Several students were showing symptoms and administrators felt it was much better to be safe than sorry. It resulted in three games being postponed for the Junior Hounds. Meanwhile, Trevor Cameron was off to a great start with seven points in seven games to lead the team in scoring.

WEYBURN RED WINGS
There may not be a better team in the SJHL than the Weyburn Red Wings. The Wings still have a chip to play in that 20-year-old goalies AJ Whiffen and Tanner Erickson both want to be starters. Convincing Brennan Wrigley to return to junior following a year of senior hockey has been a stroke of genius as he has solidified the top line with Tyler Penny and Rhett Bly. Andrew Perrault has always been a fantastic open-ice hitter, but now he’s expanding his game to include offence, which should make him a contender for SJHL Defenseman of the Year honors.

YORKTON TERRIERS
Some teams struggle with goaltending all year, and then there is the Yorkton Terriers. The Terriers have four netminders that can compete in the SJHL. The problem is identifying who are the best two. Incumbent Devin Peters has seen the most action and he seems to have righted the ship after a slow start. Joel Danyluk carried the club to a near first-round playoff upset and has looked solid in limited action. Luke Boechler is a 19-year-old local product, who led the Saskatoon Royals to a PJHL title last year. All he did was record a shutout in his second SJHL start. Warren Shymko is still midget eligible, but stuck with the Kelowna Rockets until mid-October.