After a rough start to 2018, the Klippers netted their first win of the year on Saturday over the Notre Dame Hounds in a shut-out 3-0 game.
This was the first win from the Klippers since December 18 in a home 5-4 win the Flin Flon Bombers before giving up a 3-0 lead in their next game.
On December 18, with strong players Cole Plotnikoff and Josh Fletcher off the ice due to injuries, the Klippers faced two hard games they needed in order to break the six-loss streak and raise their position in the standings. While the first game ended in success, when the Klippers snuck past the Bombers in a 5-4 win, it was not without a fight as the Klippers earned over 95 penalty minutes and three different fights including a line brawl when Klippers defence Brock Shwaluk inflicted facial injuries to a Bomber player.
On the positive side of the game, Brody Ryberg (Defence) and Tanner Thompson (forward) brought home two goals each and were awarded first and second star honors respectively for bringing in the first few goals. Ryberg, who also scored the winning goal last night, improved on his 5 points in 49 games from last season by bumping up his current score to 5 goals and 16 points so far. Captain Thompson continues to lead the Klippers in goals as the December 18 game found him netting his 10th and 11th goals of the season.
The Klippers were still feeling the excitement from the night before as their next game on December 19 started with a bang. Fans rose in their seats as the Klippers netted a 3-0 lead with goals Devon Cyr, Tate Page, and Tanner Thompson by the end of the first period. However, things took a drastic turn as the Bomber’s point-leading forward, Nick Shumlanski, hit the second period hard — scoring within the first 30 seconds back on the ice. From there, goalie Justen Close performed several key saves to keep it at 3-1 for quite some time, until the Bombers came down like a landslide, netting four more unanswered goals, ending the game 5-3.
The Klippers aimed to end the year on a better note with December 29 & 30 weekend games with the North Battleford Stars, but the weather had other plans as extreme cold swept through West Central Saskatchewan just in time for the holidays. The games were cancelled in favour of a rematch on January 3rd at the North Battleford Civic Centre. Instead of the victory hoped to start the New Year off right, the Klippers took a hard hit from the Stars in a resounding 4-2 game.
Returning to their home ice on Saturday, the Klippers pulled off a great win for the home fans, smashing the Notre Dame Hounds in a shut-out 3-0 game. The Klippers will now travel for a string of away games; first stop is a rematch with the Hounds on Tuesday, followed by a match with the Estevan Bruins on Thursday, Weyburn Red Wings on Friday, and back to the Estevan Bruins on Saturday. The next home game for the Klippers will be on January 27 with the Nipawin Hawks at the West Central Events Centre.
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