By Mark Janzen /

Two years ago, the Saskatoon Contacts had lost a little bit of that swagger that had made them such a quality organization.

They only won 15 games that year and changes were coming.

Enter Marc Chartier and Co.

It wasn’t like they needed a huge overhaul. They just needed some tweaking.

“There wasn’t a lot to change but we brought in a new coaching staff,” Chartier said. “And having Jim McIntyre (owner/laundry basket/skate sharpener) around is great, as he has such a solid foundation with the Contacts on the historical side of things. It’s a very successful organization and everything is in place to be successful.

“We’ve got some different kind of players in here and ones that we wanted. With a positive attitude, that team we had last year had a lot of guys who could put the puck in the net and worked hard every night and carried that work ethic into this year. What’s happening this year is a result of what happened last year.”

And that brings us to 2009/10. The Contacts are back in a big way are and nine games into the season, their 7-1-0-1 record has them on top of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey Leauge.

They’re winning games by an average of two-and-a-half goals and have a balanced scoring attack that is the envy of most teams.

“It’s all about team play,” Chartier said. “Our guys are pretty solid throughout. Every night, our guys work hard for 60 minutes and that’s been the big difference here. I think it’s a carry over from the guys last year, but I think we have a little more skill than we had last year and now we’re putting quite a few more pucks in the net.”

While the team is scoring nearly five goals a game, it might be goaltender Matt Hrynkiw’s 1.99 goals-against average and .929 save percentage that’s more impressive.

When asked what has been the key to their early season success, captain Jonathan Lashyn was quick to respond.

“Our goaltending has been great. Hrynkiw has played awesome. And our young legs have been driving wide and putting the puck on net and going hard and having fun.”

And that might be the most telling word. Fun.

With a fair lot of returning players joined by cohesive personalities, the Contacts chemistry is well in session.

“We had some really good young guns and some older kids,” Chartier said. “We have a good mix and we have a great captain in Jonathan Lashyn and he’s been playing well and leading the way on the back end.

“They’re a good group of kids. When you’re picking a team, you want players that get along and are going to be ‘we’ players and not ‘I’ players. You don’t have to be the most skilled player, but as long as every night you’re working your tail off — that’s what our guys do.”

That, and win.

It’s a far cry from 2007/08.