The Yorkton Terriers enter the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs as the sixth place team after finishing the season with 61 points.
The Estevan Bruins enter playoffs as the third place team, finishing the regular season with 77 points.
The Terriers went 2-3-1 versus the Bruins in the regular season, and are anticipating a long playoff series according to head coach/GM Casey O’Brien.
Forwards
Terriers: The Yorkton Terriers’ leading scorer is forward Jared Legien. He has 30 goals and 26 assists from the regular season, giving him a total of 56 points.
Legien and his linemates Shane Sherban and Dakota Odgers have been building their chemistry over the past few months, and are a force to be reckoned with. They compliment each other with Odgers’ hard work and grit, Sherban’s play-making skill and size, and Legien’s ability to put the puck in the net.
Other forwards to note are Jordan Ross and captain Corwin Stevely. Ross is second in points with 39 (15G, 24A) and Stevely is fourth with 33 (14G, 19A).
Depth is a major strength that the Terriers have, with forwards like Kaleb Bell, Quin Hobbs and the Welke twins (MacKenzie and Carson) who also pose a threat on the ice.
Terriers’ coach O’Brien said their plan it to, “play an aggressive forecheck, a physical game, stay composed, move the puck well and put shots on net.”
Bruins: The Estevan Bruins have three forwards who rank in the league’s top 15 in points in the regular season. Offense has become what they are known for, and a lot of that stems back to those three players.
Matt McNeil is sixth in the league in points with 69 (31G, 38A). Twelfth in the league is Jason Miller, who has 59 points (26G, 33A). And fifteenth is Kaelan Holt with 56 points (27G, 29A).
Estevan rookie Michael McChesney is the highest scoring rookie in the league with 21 goals. He’s third in the league in rookie points with 41 points (21G, 20A) in the regular season.
Estevan head coach Chris Lewgood told Yorkton This Week that they’re looking to keep things simple, and they’ll be focusing on their offensive zone more than their defensive zone in the series.
Defensemen
Terriers: Yorkton has an experienced defensive line up with veterans like Regan Seiferling, Kevin Wolf and Reid Anderson.
Assistant captain Regan Seiferling is their most noteworthy. Seiferling is third on the team in points with 34 (6G, 28A). He also played for Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge in December.
Other noteworthy defensemen from Yorkton are LJ Naccarato and Tyler Baier.
Bruins: Estevan’s coach Lewgood said he feels that they have the strongest defense core in the SJHL.
Assistant captain Josh Rieger has been with the team for three years, and has taken over as an undisputed leader on defense.
At the trade deadline, the Bruins picked up Evan Scott who has added stability to their back end.
And 18-year-old Johnny Witzke shows strong defense in all three zones, and according to coach Lewgood, he does a little bit of everything for the team.
Goaltenders
Terriers: Goalie Nathan Hargrave has been a rock in net for the Terriers for much of the season. He has a 0.919 save percentage, and a 2.73 goals against average. He is fourth in the league in wins.
Hargrave has playoff experience after playing with the Kindersley Klippers last season. That game experience mixed with his age will make him a key asset for the Terriers in this playoff run.
Rookie goalie Matt Vernon has also had a strong showing for the Terriers in the regular season. He played in 18 games, and towards the end of the season showed a lot of growth, providing the Terriers with great depth in net.
Bruins: Estevan’s two goalies have split ice time fairly evenly this year. Nathan Alalouf has played 29 games. He has a 0.910 save percentage and averages 3.05 goals against.
Rookie Curtis Meger has played 22 games for the Bruins this year. He has a 0.905 save percentage, and a 3.18 goals against average.
Special teams
Terriers: Yorkton is stronger on the penalty kill than they are on the power-play. Although their power-play has been steadily improving, they finished the league eleventh overall in power-plays at 15.6 percent.
Their penalty kill is ninth overall in the league at 79.2 percent.
Jared Legien leads the team with 17 power-play points, and Regan Seiferling is second on the team with 16 power-play points. Legien also leads the team with six power-play goals.
Corwin Stevely, Cole Keenleyside and Jared Legien lead the Terriers in shorthanded goals, respectively.
Bruins: Estevan is ranked fourth place in the league in power-plays, at 19.5 percent. They are ranked sixth in penalty kills at 81.7 percent.
Bruins coach Lewgood said they’ve found consistency in their power-play as the year has progressed. Their plan going into playoffs is to stay disciplined.
“We know exactly how to kill against the Terriers, but it’s not easy to do, so we’ll have to execute properly,” he said.
Other notes
Terriers: Yorkton will be missing a few key players from their lineup in the first few games of playoffs, including forwards Corwin Stevely and Cole Keenleyside. Stevely will miss the first playoff game due to suspension, and Keenleyside will miss the first four games because of suspension.
Bruins: Lewgood said his team is all ready to go for playoffs, saying they’re as “healthy as a team can be in March.”
Game one of the quarterfinal series will be in Estevan on Friday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Game two will see the two teams face off in Yorkton on Saturday, and will be held at the Farrell Agencies Arena at 7:30 p.m.
Game three will be back in Estevan on Tuesday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Game four will be in Yorkton on Wednesday, March 22 at the FAA at 7:30 p.m.
Fan support always plays an important role, especially in playoffs. Terriers’ staff and players are hoping that the “Fill the Farrell” promotion they ran two weekends ago will help get more fans in the seats of the FAA during playoffs.
