GX94 Playoff Preview: (5) Terriers vs (3) Klippers - SJHL Sherwood Final

Yorkton (24-30-2-1) 51 pts @ Kindersley (31-21-3-3) 68 pts

How they got here:
Yorkton: Beat Melville 3-1 in Best-of-Five Survivor Series... knocked out the league-leading Weyburn Red Wings 4-1 in the Conference Semi.
Kindersley: Swept the 2nd place Notre Dame Hounds in their Conference Semi-Final.

REGULAR SEASON

Yorkton's Leaders
Points: Menke (44), Stringfellow (30), Stott (26) * in 36 GP
Goals: Menke (20), Stott (15), Stringfellow (11)
Assists: Menke (24), Strinfellow (19), Byczynski (15)
D-Man Points: Byczynski (22), Bourhis (21), McDermott/Tendler (8)
Rookie Points: Bourhis (21), Struble (19), Murray (14)

Kindersley's Leaders
Points: Andrew Dommett (60), Jordan Braid (57), Johnny Calkins (50)
Goals: Dommett (36), Braid (22), Braeden Adamyk (20), Taylor Duzan (19)
Assists: Braid (35), Calkins (33), Adamyk/Duzan/Steven Turner (27)
D-Man Points: Turner (34), Kurt Leedahl (17), John Sonntag (15)
Rookie Points: Jordon Hoffman (22), Beau Taylor (16), Sean Flanagan (12)

PLAYOFFS

Yorkton's Leaders (9 games)
Points: Smukowich (13), Zubko (11), McDonell (8)
Goals: Smukowich (9), McDonell (5), Zubko/Stringfellow (4)
Assists: Zubko (7), Byczynski (5), Menke, 5 others (4)
D-Man Points: Byczynski (7), McDermott (5), Bourhis (4)
Rookie Points: Bourhis (4), Struble (4), Paterson (3)

Kindersley's Leaders (4 games)
Points: Leedahl/Braid/Duzan (5), Calkins (4)
Goals: Duzan (3), Hoffman/King/Dommett (2)
Assists: Leedahl/Braid/Calkins (4)
D-Man Points: Leedahl (5), Braid (5)*, Turner (1)
*Braid moved back to defense late reg season/playoffs
Rookie Points: Hoffman (3), Exner (2), Down (1)

Season Series (6 games)
Kindersley: 4-1-0-1 (17 goals for)
Yorkton: 2-3-0-1 (10 goals for)

Oct/31 @ YOR: 6-2 KIN
Nov/25 @ KIN: 3-2 YOR (SO)
Jan/16 @ KIN (Eston): 2-1 KIN (SO)
Jan/17 @ KIN (Eston): 3-2 KIN
Feb/12 @ YOR: 4-1 KIN
Feb/14 @ YOR: 2-1 YOR

In Kindersley/Eston: Klippers 2-0-1, Terriers 1-1-0-1
In Yorkton: Klippers 2-1, Terriers 1-2

Head to Head Stats

Yorkton
McDonell 1g-2a-3p
Stringfellow 1g-2a-3p
Decker 2a
Griffiths 1g-1a-2p
Menke 2g
Moar 1g-1a-2p
Byczynski 2a

Kindersley
Dommett 5g-2a-7p
Duzan 3g-3a-6p
Calkins 3g-3a-6p
Braid 1g-4a-5p
Turner 4a
Adamyk 2g-1a-3p
Hoffman 2g-1a-3p

Between the Pipes
Smukowich and Zubko have been a big story up front, but Devin Peters deserves a lot of credit for the Terriers being where they are right now, losing just once in regulation in 9 playoff games. He's allowed 3 goals or less in each of his last 8 games. Peters was the SJHL Rookie Team goalie last year, and he's up against this year's OVERALL Rookie of the Year in Kindersley's Josh Thorimbert. The 17-year-old has shown no signs of fatigue from carrying the mail, and no signs of playoff jitters (see numbers below).

Yorkton (Regular Season)
#29 Devin Peters 17-17-1-0, 2.97 GAA, .897%, 1 SO
*#30 Luke Boechler 4-7-2-1, 2.77 GAA, .907%, 3 SO
#35 Warren Shymko 0-2, 4.03 GAA, .862%

Peters vs KIN (Reg season)
2-2, 2.46 GAA, .919%

Peters in Playoffs
7-2, 2.09 GAA, .933%

Kindersley (Regular Season)
#31 Josh Thorimbert 26-14-2-2, 2.66 GAA, .917%, 1 SO
#30 Scott Hellyer 2-2, 3.93 GAA, .888%
*vs Yorkton, Hellyer was 1-1, 2.02, .951

Thorimbert vs YOR
3-0-1, 1.44 GAA, .946%

Thorimbert in Playoffs (vs ND)
4-0, 2.00 GAA, .934% 1 SO

*Tried searching for a bad number in Thorimbert's stats... still looking... !

Special Teams
Yorkton
Reg Season PP: 14.8% (12th)
PP vs KIN: 4/32 (12.5%) (Kin PK=87.5%)
Reg Season PK: 84.9% (3rd)
Playoff PP: 16.1% (5th)
Playoff PK: 84.4% (6th)

Kindersley
Reg Season PP: 18.9% (6th)
PP vs YOR: 6/26 (23.1%) (Yor PK=76.9%)
Reg Season PK: 80.4% (8th)
Playoff PP: 10.5% (8th)
Playoff PK: 80% (8th)

My thoughts
Let's face it. NO ONE predicted a Yorkton/Kindersley South Final.... but it's an intriguing matchup. The Terriers are flying high, discovering some offense. They're laying it on the line, and remember their teammate Luke Boechler, who's listening to these playoffs online (I'm sure watching WHEN possible, I'm not offended Luke!) from the Pasqua Hospital in Regina. Troy Smukowich has been red-hot, and the Terriers are even getting some offense from their defense-first blue line in these playoffs. They're averaging nearly 4 goals per game in the playoffs. For Kindersley, Andrew Dommett was held, by his standards, in check in Round 1 vs ND, with just 2 points (both goals), but he could be a sleeping giant. Dommett tied for the regular season lead with 36 goals, and his line, with Calkins and Adamyk was outstanding against Yorkton in the regular season. This series could come down to goaltending. Does Thorimbert continue to prove critics (who think a 17 year old can't lead a team to the promised land) wrong? The recently-named SJHL Rookie of the Year believes he can, and so do his teammates and coaches. Another factor is the Eston rink. The Klippers have a near-perfect home record since moving their games there after the devasting fire that severly damaged the West Central Events Centre in Kindersley. It's a small ice surface, and things happen fast. I only saw one game there in the regular season with Melville, and the Mils went into Eston riding a 9 game winning streak, and frankly looked a little uncomfortable with their surroundings. Yorkton's played there twice, and lost 2-1 (SO) and 3-2 back in mid-January. Rookie Head Coach Trent Cassan goes up against yet another wiley veteran in Larry Wintoneak, but after leading the Terriers to series wins over Jamie Fiesel's Melville Millionaires, and Hall of Famer Dwight McMillan and the Weyburn Red Wings, I think it's fair to say age and experience are only numbers, and the only number that matters this time of year is 4.

First one to 4.

Pre-Series Thoughts F with Kyle Miller, F Troy Smukowich and D Kurtis Decker: