Week 1 Wrap Up

Welcome back to another season of exciting KJHL action!  Congratulations to the Fisher River First Nation, who was granted an expansion franchise to begin play this season – the Fisher River Hawks.

The KJHL season kicked off Friday night in Peguis.  Yes, you read that right – Peguis.  For the first time in nearly 8 years, the Peguis Juniors are finally playing at home.  The new arena is complete, the ice is fast and the they are ready to rock.  Peguis hosted the defending Champion Selkirk Fishermen to lead off the 2014-2015 season.

Prior to the puck drop, there was an opening ceremony for the new arena, including a ceremonial puck drop by the Chief and a few Councillors and key arena people, including the captains of both Peguis & Selkirk.  In the end, the result wasn’t what Peguis was hoping for, however it was a great night, especially to see a packed arena cheering on the home side.

Once the game got going, it didn’t take Peguis long to excite the crowd of nearly 1400 people, scoring twice in a 50 second span, just over 3 minutes into the game.  Selkirk got one back on the power-play at the midway point of the period, but Peguis closed out the first leading 2-1.  The second period remained that way, until Peguis added two markers, and held a 4-1 lead with 8 minutes left in the period.  Selkirk again added a power-play goal, and then an even strength goal with 3:06 remaining, to keep the Juniors lead at just 1 goal heading into the 3^rd.  A costly penalty at the end of the 2^nd period, put the Fishermen on the power-play to start the 3^rd period, and they made Peguis pay, tying the game up.  Selkirk scored just 16 seconds later to take a 5-4 lead, and they never looked back, scoring again, and then adding a few more, including shorthanded and an empty net goal to spoil the Peguis party.  Make this one a final score – Selkirk Fishermen 8, Peguis Juniors 5.

Leading the way for the Fishermen, with an dominant performance, was Cale McBride, who scored 6 times, all in a row and added 1 assist.  Jeremy Pachkowsky & Michael Smiley scored the other Fishermen goals.  Scott Thomas added 4 assists, while Jon Starodub, Michael Smiley and Tanner MacVicar each added 2 points.  Bretton Fewchuk made 33 saves on 38 shots to record the victory.

Peguis got 2 goals from Denis Baptiste, and singles from William Houle, Romano Paul and Darryl Flett.  Both Paul and Baptiste finished with 2 points.  Keifer Tacan made 25 saves on 32 shots in the loss.OCN opened the season at home with back-to-back games against Lundar.  Lundar opened the scoring in the first with a goal, and held a 1-0 lead after 1.  OCN answered back however with 4 second period goals, and took a 4-1 lead to the 3^rd period.  In the 3^rd, Lundar scored once, while OCN added two more, to finish the game with a 6-2 victory.

OCN got a hat trick from Maxwell Shoo, along with single goals from Dustin Dorion, Isaiah Francis & Mitchell Tilley.  Lodie Ipeelie added 3 assists & Bryson Constant added 2.  Luke Penner made 28 saves in the win.

Lundar got single goals from Cody Paul & Braden Lussier.  Andrew Smith stopped 22 shots.

Also on Saturday night, the Satelites played host to the Norway House North Stars.  The North Stars were short some bodies on this road trip.  The Satelites held period leads of 1-0, 3-0 and closed out the game 7-0 with 4 third period goals, including a shorthanded marker.

Kevin Haines paced all Satelites scorers with 3 points (1 G & 2 A), while Darrel Kilburn added 2 goals.  The Satelites also got single goals from Brendan Hapin, Grayson Schmidt, Sean Murray & Kyle Grand.  Vinny Carriere, Kyle Collins, and Grayson Schmidt all had multiple point games.  Marc Hildebrand made 23 saves to record the win and the shutout.

Brendan McLeod stood tall in the Norway House goal making 45 saves in the game.

Sunday’s schedule had two games on the go – with the second game in the OCN vs Lundar matchup, and Norway House paying a visit to Selkirk.

In OCN, the Storm opened the first period with a 2-0 lead.  They added 3 more goals in the 2^nd, with Lundar scoring their lone goal of the game and held a 5-1 lead after 2 periods.  They added 2 more goals in the third period, and won 7-1 top open the season at 2-0.

Bryson Constant & Mitch Tilley each scored twice, with Dustin Dorion, Drew Morin & Harold Linklater adding single goals.  Brandon Sinclair-Martin added 3 assists, while Maxwell Shoo, Lodie Ipeelie & Isaiah Francis each added 2 helpers.  Luke Penner made 31 saves on 32 shots for a total of 59 saves on 62 shots over the weekend.

Lundar got their lone goal from Breyden Turner.  Scott Maytwayashing made 10 saves on 13 shots, and was replaced by Andrew Smith in the 2^nd period after being thrown out for fighting.  Smith made 10 saves on 14 shots in relief.

The final game of the weekend saw the Norway House North Stars get thumped in Selkirk by a score of 17-1.  This game was all Fish, all afternoon and the shorthanded North Stars were simply overmatched.  Credit to both teams however, as there were very few penalties.

Selkirk scorers included: Cale McBride with 3 goals and 2 assists, Dylan Painchaud-Niemi with 4 goals, Cory Balcaen & Tanner MacVicar with 2 goals each and singles from Scott Thomas, Daniel Fiebelkorn, Jon Starodub, Michael Smiley, Corbin Pasternak & Milan Horanski.  Jordan Liske made 14 saves for the win.

Norway House got a single goal from Jameson Scott.  Greg McLeod got the start in goal, allowing 5 goals on 25 shots, while Brendan McLeod came on in relief, allowing 12 goals on 47 shots.  The Norway House goaltenders faced a combined 72 shots during the game.

This week’s KJHL action starts on Tuesday night, as the St. Malo Warriors begin their campaign visiting the North Winnipeg Satelites.  Action continues Wednesday as the Arborg Ice Dawgs visit the new Peguis arena in a match-up against the Juniors.  Friday night sees the Fisher River Hawks open their season in their inaugural game against rivals the Peguis Juniors and the St. Malo Warriros visit Arborg.  Saturday sees the OCN Storm and Selkirk Fishermen meet up, while Arborg travels north for games this weekend in Norway House.  Sunday also sees the Warriors play on the road in Lundar, and OCN make a stop in Fisher River.

Be sure to follow your team throughout the year!