Thunder Talk: January 31st

This loss was good for us. Why? Because there is a lesson to be learned from it. Now, one would assume that it would be obvious to most that spotting your opponent a 5 goal lead on 9 shots isn't a good idea, last night however, we decided to learn this the hard way. Even though we may have out shot the Royals throughout the game, and even though we may not have gotten the bounces in the 2nd period, it is glaringly obvious that not coming prepared to play every shift full out, from start to finish, will cost us. I would much rather learn this lesson in January than in March.

The only mistake that is unacceptable is the one you don't learn from. So we will take what we can from last night and move forward.

Also, today was picture day... here's you 2008-2009 Tri Town Thunder.

Thunder Talk: January 30th

Bus is leaving today at 3:30 for the game in Wakaw. We had a good practice last night concentrating a lot on our special teams. We know that the Royals are a talented team and tonight's game may be won or loss with special teams play.

Tonight will be Asst. Coach and long time Thunder Dustin Hildebrand's final game with us this season. Dustin is returning to school in Kelowna in Febuary. Make sure you come out and say your goodbyes and wish Dusty good luck at school. I know I will miss having him around a lot.

We should have a healthy squad tonight, with a couple players nursing bumps and bruises, and the remnants of a few flus.

Keep Your Stick On The Ice
Coach Kingwell

Thunder Talk: January 29th

Last nights game story is told by the boxscore. In a blowout of that proportion, the best you can hope for is not to develop any bad habits. Luckily we have no time for bad habits as we are meeting the Royals in Wakaw tomorrow night in as big a game as we've played this year. We took the last meeting with them before Christmas and we're planning to take another 2 points in the standings again this time around.

Everyone should be healthy and ready to go for this one.

Whether your a hardcore fan, or someone who starts coming out at playoff time this is a game you don't want to miss. Let's get everyone out from all 3 towns and pack the rink tomorrow night.

I guarantee you will get your monies worth and more.

Keep Your Stick On The Ice
Coach Kingwell

Thunder Talk: January 28th

Bus is pulling out of Carrot River at 2:00 this afternoon.

Defencemen Lain Ralph and Nathan Howard will both sidelined with The Flu tonight.

Puck drop is 7:45 tonight at the Harold Latrace Arena, so pop in if your in the city.

Thunder Talk: January 27th

Every Tuesday Kenny Trenton from CK750/ CJVR will be popping by to give us his take on the local hockey scene

First off, a special thanks to Noel for allowing me to add my two cents. As Noel mentioned before, my name is Kenny Trenton and I work for CK750/CJVR as a news/sports/play-by-play announcer. I'm originally from Montreal, but have been living in Saskatchewan the last 2+ years and am loving every second of it.

The first topic I want to tackle today is the Melfort Mustangs and Nipawin Hawks. Previously in the SJHL, the top 5 teams would make the playoffs in each division, with 4 and 5 facing each other in a best-of-7 series while the top three teams would play a round robin, with the winner of that choosing their semi-final opponent. This season, the round robin has been shelved, so the top three teams advance directly to the semis, while the fourth and fifth seeds will battle it out in a best of 5 series.

Over the last 2 weeks, the Hawks and Mustangs have been flip flopping between that third and fourth spot. At one point, the Mustangs were really struggling having lost 10 of 11, but the return of Kyle Fraser, and former Saskatoon Blade forward Mike Reich has really helped. They've won 5 of their last 6. Last Wednesday, Jordan Washburn (Hudson Bay) picked up his first SJHL shutout kicking aside 34 Estevan shots in a 6-0 win; big congratulations to him.

The Hawks have had an even better month at 6-1-0-1. Guys like Torrie Dyck, Brent Ottmann, and Mike Rey have been lighting it up. And let's not forget Schael Hechter, who has at least a point in every game this month. One thing the Mustangs and Hawks have in common is the fact both teams have two goalies who can get it done. Melfort doesn't lose a beat with Washburn or David Tetrault, just like Mark Currie and Wyatt Waselenchuk.

Both teams are on a roll right now, which means the weekend of February 6th, when these teams have a home and home, will likely decide who gets a direct ticket into the semis, and who has to fight to make it there. The winner of that one would get the defending RBC Cup Champion Humboldt Broncos, who have clinched the regular season title already.

I also want to give MAJOR respect to Coach Kingwell and the Tri-Town Thunder. An 11 game winning streak is just insane. Another stat about the Thunder that really sticks out is their 10-1-0-1 record on the road since November.


Have a good week, and feel free to post some questions or comments. I love talking with fans at the rink, so whether it's talk or type, there's no such thing as talking too much hockey.

Stay warm!

Kenny

Thunder Talk: January 26th

Fridays big game against the Royals in Wakaw is just over the horizon and although we don't want to overlook the last place Westleys, I'm finding it harder and harder to know what to expect from our opponents on any given night. We always plan to have our opponents bring their A game to rink against us and most nights this is the case, but it seems that lately, both the Royals and the Quakers have been playing very inconsistent hockey. On the 7th the Quakers lost to what looked to be a vastly improved Regina Capitals team 8-2 in Regina. Judging from that score we expected the Caps to give us a tough game this weekend and of course we all know how that turned out. But yesterday the Caps turned around and beat the 2nd place Royals in Saskatoon, 7-3. Is this parity or is this the mighty falling. I'm sure the Royals will come out with a much more concentrated effort on Friday night.

There are no major injuries to report from the weekend. Nathan Howard hurt his thumb on his right hand in a one sided fight at the start of the 3rd period on Saturday night. Kale Hidlebaugh took on big Storm D Man Zach Johnson, after Brett Derkatch and Jody Blais were jumped by two Storm players in front of our net, and got a nice cut on his forehead to add to his collection of war wounds. He should be good for a few zippers and ready to roll later this week. Mike Bzdel sat out this weekends games with an elbow and wrist injury but will be back on the ice fulltime this week.

Tomorrow we will have contributor Kenny Trenton from CK750/ CJVR Radio checking with us for the first time this season. Check in to find out his thoughts on the Mustangs/ Hawks rivalry and the stretch run to the SJHL playoffs.

Wednesday night we are heading into the Harold Latrace arena to take on the Westleys for the last time on their home ice. The Westley have put together some good games lately and pushed us the last time we were there, making us work for a 6-5 come from behind victory Dec 17th.

Keep Your Stick On The Ice
Coach Kingwell

Thunder Talk: January 25th

This afternoons game was a great test for us as the Storm came out aggressive looking to put us on our heels early. Credit has to go to all our guys for pushing back just as hard and allowing the Storm to unravel and play most of the game short handed. As tough as we are to beat even strength, I think it's safe to say that trying to beat us down-a-man is nearly impossible and the Storm proved that today.

With the two wins this weekend we officially have won all our Southern Division road games for the season and with one game remaining against Ft. Knox at home next month, we have put ourselves in a position to take 10 out of a possible 12 points out of the south.

Today's win not only means that we have beat every team in the league at least once, but also that we have avenged every loss that we've taken this season.

We went into today's game with a playoff mindset, and although we have some work to do to tighten our game up completely, we showed ourselves just how good a hockey club we are capable of being.

A great weekend all around.

Keep Your Stick On The Ice.
Coach Kingwell

Thunder Talk: January 24th

The bus is pulling out from Carrot River Arena at 11am this morning and we're planning on arriving in Regina at 3 o'clock. Pre-game meal at 4 and at the rink for 6. Puck drop tonight is 8 pm.

Check back in tonight after the game for results and news from tonight's game.

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Not a lot to say about tonight. The score tells most of the story. Our Energy Line played major minutes tonight in the 3rd and Bruce Crowe had his best night in the PJHL with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Tomorrow poses a much bigger challenge in Pilot Butte. All indications point to us being ready for it.

Thunder Talk: January 23rd

It's Friday before the Southern RoadTrip and I've given the boys the night off practice to recharge their batteries before this weekends games.

Mike Bzdel will be on the shelf this weekend with an injury he sustained last week during the Chiefs game at home. Mike was hit away from the play and a penalty was assessed for Interference. Mike finished the game, but went to Tisdale for x-rays Monday and has sat out practices this week and Tuesday nights game in PA. He talked to his Doctor on Thursday and got the relatively good news that he had a slight crack in his elbow and a sprained wrist. This is good in comparision to a broken elbow that would of seen him miss 4 to 6 weeks of hockey. Instead he should be able to suit up next week. This will open a hole on the 3rd scoring line with Jody Blais and Brett Derkach. I am expecting to insert Rookie Defenceman turned Forward Mike Kochan into Bzdel's spot, as his positional and physical play have opened up significant room for his linemates, Skyler Hladun and Bruce Crowe. That line has seen themselves chip in signicantly on offense for us lately, as well as being our main Energy Line. Crowe and Hladun will likely see some minutes in Bzdel's position throughout the weekend as well.

Also, Phil Binkley is day-to-day with a nagging ankle injury that has bothered him considerably throughout the season. Phil, not one to take a day off, has been playing with discomfort in the ankle for the majority of the season and with our lineup filling in, specifically our D-Core with new arrivals Brendan Boyle and Nathan Howard, it has given us the opportunity to give Phil some much needed rehab time.

Don't forget to check in Saturday and Sunday afternoon for updates from the road and after the games for my thoughts and analysis as well as roster news. Our home website will also have the boxscores from each game as well.

Also starting next Tuesday, Kenny Trenton from CJVR 750 AM Radio will be contributing a regular column on all the hockey action throughout NorthEast Saskatchewan.

Lastly, please feel free to comment on this or any other post at the end of the article. If you have any question for myself or any Thunder player, ask us in the comment field as well.

Keep Your Stick On The Ice
Coach Kingwell

Thunder Talk: January 22nd

Welcome Thunder Fans to the first post of Thunder Talk.

I hope to be keeping you all up-to-date on the daily happenings of the hockey club, direct from the source, the coach himself.

As most of you know, things have been going very well for us the past 3 months. After starting the season slowly, 3-6-0-1 in our fist 10 games, we have picked up our play, come together as a team and attempted to add further pieces of the puzzle. The results have been successful in a way that a coach rarely imagines.

We are currently riding a 9 game winning streak and have only lost once in regulation since those first 10 games. We have outshot our opponents 853 to 536 and outscored them 107 to 57 in those 18 games. While our special teams have been good with a 28% PP and 83% PK, we feel that we can be better, especially on the kill where we'd like to be 90% during the last quarter of the season into playoffs.

Last night we were in Prince Albert to take on the IceHawks. As expected the game was a rough one and for the second time in our last two trips there we fell behind and had to work hard in the 3rd period to pull out a win. Although overall we felt we controlled the play and outplayed the IceHawks we also realize that we have to be willing to simplify our game against them and just get pucks to the net and crash it. PA's success comes through hard work and physical play, as beyond their first liners Juravinski and Kalika, they are lacking in overall talent and secondary scoring. They stick with what works for them and play a very rough brand of hockey. Their achilles heel many games is that the can go too far and play undisciplined as was evident last night in a incident where they were sending players over the bench mid way through the 2nd when a scuffle had broken out following one of the IceHawks punching our new goaltender, Riley Hengen, during a stoppage in play. Ultimately, we stuck to our puck possession game and borrowed a little of there's by throwing pucks into the crease and trying to pound them in that way. It worked and we're still on the winning streak.

This weekend we head down to Regina to take on the Captials on Saturday night and the Pilot Butte Storm on Sunday afternoon. Both teams will pose a challenge for us with the Capitals recently beating the Quakers 4-2, and the Storm beating us at home at the beginning of the season.

Listen for Thunder Rumblings on CJVR today at 4:45 and watch Thunder Talk Friday for Injury Updates for the weekend.

Also watch this weekend here for my post game thoughts and analysis as well our home website, www.tritownthunder.com, for our box scores.

I hope to add more content from around the PJHL and Canadian Jr Hockey and also hope to bring in some regular contributors to report on us and other teams and leagues.

Keep Your Stick On The Ice
Coach Kingwell