By Mike Stackhouse /

HUMBOLDT BRONCOS
The Broncos solidified their hold on top spot by adding goalie Mathieu Larochelle from the Wellington Dukes in Ontario.

Larochelle once played at Notre Dame with the Midget AAA Hounds. He provides excellent insurance behind Andrew Bodnarchuk, who, despite being in his second Junior A season, is still just 18 years old.

The Broncos also picked up 20-year-old defenceman Joel Belair from the La Ronge 
Ice Wolves.

Rookie Jeff Holloway was dealt to Lloydminster (AJHL) to make room for Larochelle. Belair should provide a nasty, physical presence in front of either Bodnarchuk or Larochelle.

FLIN FLON BOMBERS
In Flin Flon, the Bombers feel as though the talent is in place to challenge for a league title. They took care of some housekeeping on January 10th, trading away Dan Lind to Estevan and bringing in Louis Labbe to fill out their third and fourth line.

The return of injured forward Cole Wilson, who has the best points-per-game average in the league, and injured defenseman Harley Garrioch is similar to acquiring two 
impact players.

NIPAWIN HAWKS
The Hawks have been charging since December 1st, and they received more good news on January 10th. Koltyn Miller bolsters the defence after getting re-assigned by the WHL’s Regina Pats.

Matt Schneider and Dean Prpick also came back after missing over two months because of a concussion and broken wrist respectively.

Nevertheless, there are still some challenges as red-hot goalie Adrien Lemay was picked up by the Lewiston MAINEiacs in the QMJHL.

Head coach Colin O’Hara decided to shuffle the deck completely after that as Kraymer Barnstable was traded to Notre Dame for 20-year-old puckstopper Mark Currie, and Wyatt Waselenchuk was added from B.C.
 
MELFORT MUSTANGS
Melfort, thought to be selling off their vets leading up to the Jan. 10 trade deadline, opted to keep highly sought defenceman Tommy Brown and power forward Kyle Fraser.

They also picked up 20-year-old forward Mike Reich from the Western Hockey League. Fraser, however, likely didn’t have much value around the league because he is recovering from a broken jaw.

BATTLEFORDS NORTH STARS
The North Stars trimmed their roster by one, dealing away Taylor Epp.

With a young team already in place, head coach Ken Pearson decided to stay the course with his current lineup, for the most part.

LA RONGE ICE WOLVES
The busiest team on Jan. 10 was La Ronge. The Ice Wolves sent veterans Jonathan Jobin (Nanaimo), Everette Lerner (Dauphin), Joel Belair (Humboldt), Casey Dion (Melville), and Joey Coffin (Weeks) to other teams.

They also swapped rookie forward Louis Labbe to Flin Flon for prospect Matthew White.
 
The SJHL All-Star Game was played January 18th in Lampman as part of Hockey Day in Saskatchewan.  The Itech Conference sent defenseman Brady Wacker of Humboldt and forward Torrie Dyck of Nipawin as unanimous selections. At the time of the appointment, Wacker was leading the league in scoring with 67 points. Bronco netminder Andrew Bodnarchuk, and forwards Scott Schroeder and Matthew Kirzinger were also in the starting line-up with Flin Flon defenseman Michael Young.