The Yorkton Terriers have not made it beyond the first round of Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs for three years.
The 2013-2014 season was their last time. That year, they won the league final (Canalta Cup), the Western Canada Cup and the RBC National Cup. To say it was a successful season for the team is an understatement.
This year, the Terriers have made it past the survivor series because of their sixth place finish in the league, which secured them a bye to quarterfinals.
Most players on the team have never had success in their playoff runs as Terriers.
Last year, the Terriers were swept in the survivor series by the La Ronge Ice Wolves.
The year before, the Terriers missed the playoffs with their twelfth place finish.
So, the majority of players on this year’s roster have never won a playoff game.
But a few players, and head coach/GM Casey O’Brien, were around for that 2013-2014 year, so they remember the feeling of winning.
O’Brien was assistant coach to Trent Cassan at that time. But this year he took over as head coach early in the season.
Terriers’ captain Corwin Stevely played as an AP for the Terriers in 2014.
Terriers’ forward Jordan Ross was in his first year of junior hockey for the 2013-2014 season.
And while forward Dakota Odgers wasn’t with the Terriers in the 2013-2014 season, he was around for the season before when the Terriers won the Canalta Cup.
Stevely has been the most constant on the team, while Ross and Odgers have been back and forth between the Terriers and teams in the Western Hockey League.
Comparing
Stevely said being a well-rounded team has given them success this year.
“Coming into playoffs right now, we’re firing all cylinders. We’ve got four lines going, and I think that’s big,” said Stevely.
When it comes to comparing this year’s team to the ‘13-‘14 Terriers, Stevely said it’s a tough comparison, but there are parallels.
“In both teams, there are lines that can score. You can count on each line,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who’s out, you know what you’re going to get.”
Jordan Ross agreed with what Stevely had to say. He also noted a high level of goaltending this year that’s up there with, if not stronger than the ’13-’14 season.
“We’re also a bigger team this year. I think we’ve got bigger D-men and bigger forwards, so I think that’ll help us out,” added Ross.
Coach O’Brien has been with the team through all the highs and lows over the past half-decade. He said right now, he really likes the team he has going into this playoff season.
He said comparing this year’s team to that ’13-’14 team is hard because he and Trent Cassan (former head coach) had three years to work with that team.
“This year, everything is different for myself, Mat (asst. coach), Karsten (asst. coach) and the players. It probably took us five months to get where we wanted to be,” said O’Brien.
O’Brien said the Terriers’ strengths this year are being tough, physical and relentless.
“These guys haven’t quit at all this year. That’s why, in the last eight games, we went 7-0-1. Guys are believing that we can win on any given night,” said O’Brien.
Pressure
Coach O’Brien and captain Stevely have both, in their own way, moved up in the Terriers’ ranks since the ’13-’14 winning season.
O’Brien from assistant coach to head coach, and Stevely from AP to team captain.
Both said there are more pressures going into playoffs this year than there has been in past years.
“There is pressure as a head coach. You want to put the best product on the ice, you want to win, you want the crowd to be entertained,” said O’Brien. “Because I have such a great staff and great players, it makes my job a lot easier because we’re all in this together. I’m only as good as the rest of my staff.”
O’Brien also noted that the team has very minimal junior A playoff experience, which he said is important to keep in mind going into this year’s playoffs.
Stevely said he doesn’t necessarily feel pressure on him as much as a team-wide desire to do well.
“The fans deserve a good playoff push. The coaches, the whole organization, and the guys who have been around through these ups and downs,” said Stevely.
The Terriers will face the Estevan Bruins in the quarterfinals of playoffs. Stevely, Ross and coach O’Brien all agreed that the key to a successful series will be a consistent, physical and fast-paced game.
