CANORA – In what was “probably our most complete game of the year so far,” according to Canora Cobras Coach Darren Schwartz, the Cobras grabbed at 1-0 series lead at home to start the North final for the Provincial B championship on Feb. 28. But the five-hour bus ride to Wilkie on March 7 did not produce the desired results, as the Outlaws won Game 2 and then Game 3 the following afternoon to win the best-of-three series and move on to the Provincial final.
Game 2
On March 7 in Wilkie, the Outlaws opened the scoring in the first period, but the Cobras bounced back and tied it up on a goal by Carson Sass of Melville, set up by Carter Dereniwsky of Canora. That would prove to be the last of the offense for the Cobras on this night. The Outlaws took the lead for good with under two minutes left in the first period. Wilkie extended the lead with two goals in the second period and one more in the third for a 5-1 final score, and a 1-1 tie in the best-of-three series, forcing Game 3 to decide the series.
“We made the bus ride and started off OK, but not the way we needed to play,” said Coach Schwartz. “We started playing the way we need to play in the third period. If we would’ve played that way and hit them more the whole game, we may not have won Game 2 but we would have worn them down more and probably won Game 3.”
Game 3
The following afternoon the two teams were back on the ice in Wilkie, knowing this game was win or go home.
Wilkie scored the all-important first goal, and let 1-0 after the opening period. With each team scoring twice in the second period, the Outlaws maintained their one-goal advantage heading into the final period. They added one more goal in the third to wrap up a 4-2 win to take the series in the maximum three games.
Goal scorers for the Cobras were Vaughn Wilgosh of Canora, with assists from Sean Kolodziejski of Hyas and Carter Dereniwsky of Canora, and the second goal was scored unassisted by Damian Bentz of Madge Lake.
“In this game we played better and had more momentum, but we kept falling behind,” said Coach Schwartz. “But give Wilkie credit, they’re a very experienced team, probably the best team we’ve played in the last two years.”
Schwartz said after the series was over, the Wilkie coach told him, “After playing you guys, we haven’t been this banged up in two years.”
This series demonstrated the importance of home ice advantage for the playoffs.
“I’m pretty sure we would have won the series if we had home ice,” said Schwartz. “But we had a pretty good run in provincials this year. We finally made it to the North final after losing out earlier in the last two years.”
Even though the Cobras failed to win the series, General Manager Casey Mydonick said the long bus ride to Wilkie was still a good experience.
“It was a little morale booster to just kind of all be together on such a long trip,” said Mydonick. “A shout out to our sponsors for making this weekend possible. The boys played hard but just couldn’t get the outcome we needed. I’d like to thank all the volunteers, coaching staff, and players for making this season a success thus far. With that being said, we’re looking forward to the finals against Langenburg!”
The SEHL best-of-five final series was scheduled to get underway in Canora on March 13. Games 2 and 3 were set for Langenburg on March 14 and 20. If necessary, Game 4 will be back in Canora on March 21, with the fifth and deciding Game to take place in Langenburg on March 27.
“It’s going to be a great series,” said Coach Schwartz. ”They only beat us out by one point in the regular season. Both teams have small rinks, there’s going be hard hitting and it’ll be a good series to watch.
“There’s some history here, these two teams don’t like each other. They have good offensive players. Some of them don’t like to get hit, so we need to hit them. We need to crash and bang, play solid defence, and capitalize on our opportunities.”
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