I did nothing work-related yesterday, just vegetated infront of Super Bowl XLIII (is that 43 in Roman Numerals? I think so...). I honestly care very little about the NFL, but that was some kinda game. Other than the 5 pounds of Pizza, Tostitos and Pilsner I don't regret spending all day watching that. Tired today though I tell ya. Super Bowl should be on a Sunday where the following day's a holiday, like the Riders/Bombers Labour Day game. Family Day's two weeks from today... too bad the big game wasn't that weekend.Anyway, let's talk hockey, shall we?
It's not often there's ANY local hockey on Mondays, but we're on the air with the Yorkton Terriers in Notre Dame tonight, AND next Monday. Here's some notes.
Where Are We?
The Terriers might not recognize Duncan McNeil Arena in Wilcox tonight. They haven't played on that Olympic-size ice since September 15th, their second game of the season (4-1 win). That was our first Terrier broadcast of the season. Kirk Byczynski, Bryan Hull, Derek Serdachny and Corey Silverson had the goals while Jordan Barry got the win in goal.
Season Series
Yorkton's 2-and-1 against the Hounds this season. Their loss was admittedly a bit of a stinker back on October 8th. Kyle Ireland scored on a bouncer from centre about a minute in and the Terriers couldn't claw their way back in a 5-2 loss. Rylan Schwartz was outstanding in a 2G night. The Terriers and Hounds meet 3 times in the next 8 days. (Tonight @ ND, Wed @ YOR, Mon Feb 9 @ ND). Both road games are on the radio.
Big Brother Schwartz
Rylan has 4 goals against Yorkton this season, all coming in the last 2 meetings. He's fourth in the league with 71 points, 4 back of Humboldt defenseman Brady Wacker. His 33 goals are second to Preston Shupe's (WEY) 34. His 1.73 points per game leads the SJHL, but he missed 8 games while attending the WJAC in Camrose. I think it's a safe bet he'd have the scoring race locked up if he played all 56 games with the Hounds (71 pts in 41 games).
Little Brother Schwartz
His 18 year old brother Rylan had 2-goals and 5-assists in his last 4 games. 16 year old Jaden has 5-goals and 2-assists during the same stretch. He's got 63 points which has him 6th in the league (26-37-63 in just 39 games... 1.62 pts per game). He's scored two overtime winners in the last week (Thusday vs EST, Saturday vs WEY).
Broad Side of a Barnstable
In their last 3 games, Hounds' goalie Kramer Barnstable has made 130 saves on 135 shots. During that stretch, the Hounds, much in thanks to Barnstable, beat three tough Sherwood opponents away from home: Melville (44/46), Estevan (50/50), and Weyburn (36/39). Last week, his record was 3-0, GAA was 1.62, save % was .963, and he had a shutout, all while getting just 3.24 of goal support. The Terriers, who've scored just 19 goals in their last 9 games, hope the stats reverse themselves tonight.
Byczy Puttin' Up Points
Kirk Byczynski has the same numbers as Rylan Schwartz in his last five games. Kirk's also riding a 5-game point streak with 2-goals and 5-assists for 7-points. Byczynski and Bryan Hull each have 9 points in Yorkton's last 10 games to lead the team.
Powerplay Outage
The Terriers' powerplay has fallen to 10th best in the SJHL at 17.8%. In the month of January, their PP clicked at 11%, and they've gone 4 games without scoring a powerplay goal.
Key Cog vs the Hounds
Yorkton's Travis Coghill has 2-goals and 15-assists on the season, and seems to have his best games against Notre Dame. He leads the Terriers in scoring against the Hounds with a goal and 3-assists for 4-points.
Dogfight for Points
The Terriers and Hounds both want points and both for different reasons. Notre Dame's playoff hopes hang by a thread. They're 11 points out of a spot with 7 games to play. A loss tonight would ALMOST mathematically eliminate them. The Terriers meanwhile, are 2 points out of the top 3, and third place Kinderlsey will have 4 games in hand on them after tonight, and they'll have 5 in hand by time the Klippers meet the Terriers on Friday. If they can sweep this Mon/Wed home and home with the Hounds, the Terriers would have sole possession of third before facing Kindersley twice over the weekend.
7:50 Pre Game Show, 8:00 Play by Play tonight on GX94.
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