CANORA – It seemed fitting that, in their final game of the regular season and with so much on the line, the Canora Cobras went into Rocanville and beat the Tigers on Jan. 30. The 2-1 win was the first meeting of these two teams since the Cobras won the SEHL championship back in March, also in Rocanville.
With only about a dozen skaters, the Cobras were facing long odds as the game began, up against the Rocanville squad with their full lineup, said Cal Homeniuk, filling in for Cobras Coach Darren Schwartz who was unavailable.
“I told our guys before the game, ‘It doesn’t have to be pretty, as long as we win the game,’” said Homeniuk.
And then, a couple of Cobras skaters sustained injuries and were unable to finish the tight checking game, only adding to the challenge.
“Rocanville scored first on a questionable goal in the first period,” said Homeniuk. “It looked like the net had been dislodged before the puck went in.”
Nevertheless, the goal counted. The Cobras pressed on, and “gutted out a dirty win.”
As it turned out, the game was decided in the second period. The Cobras tied things up on a power play goal by Carter Dereniwsky of Canora, set up by Logan Foster of Grayson and Scott Mickoski of Regina, and then sniped the winner with under six minutes left in the period.
“Austin Severson (of Norquay) scored a pretty goal, going top shelf with his shot after a feed from Carter Dereniwsky,” said Homeniuk. The other assist went to Damian Benz of Madge Lake.
The game was hotly contested all the way through, since “There’s bad blood between these two teams after meeting in the league finals the last two years,” said Homeniuk. “All of our players really picked up their play for this game, which is what championship teams usually do. It also helped that we had won in their building before.”
Homeniuk said the Cobras received excellent goaltending from Ross Hawryluk of Regina, who was “the first star of the game by far.”
From what he’s seen, Homeniuk said this is probably the most unpredictable season in the young history of the SEHL.
“You never know what will happen from night to night in this league.”
The injuries sustained in Rocanville turned out to be minor, and Homeniuk expects all players to be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs.
Cobras are at or near the top in a number of statistical categories following the end of the regular season.
Ross Hawryluk won the goaltending triple crown, leading in wins with 11, goals against average (2.54), and save percentage (.798).
Damien Bentz with 42 points, and Carter Dereniwsky with 41, each finished in the top five in the scoring race. Logan Foster scored 25 goals, leaving him second in the league behind Dakota Macintosh of the Cote Selects, who finished with 28.
The Cobras are the second seed heading into the playoffs. Their opponent in the quarter final series was to be decided in the play-in series for the seventh and eighth seeds, with Cote meeting Churchbridge and Wapella facing off against Russell. Cote won to claim the seventh seed, setting up a quarterfinal matchup against the Cobras. Game 1 of the best-of-three series is set for Feb. 11 at the Cote Arena, with Game 2 back in Canora on Feb. 14.
The Cobras are going to be busy, with provincials are set to get underway this Friday, Feb. 13, as the Leroy Braves come to town to face the Cobras in Game 1 of the best-of-three Senior B opening round series. Game 2 is in Leroy on Sunday, Feb. 15.
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