Wednesday 26 March 2014

SJHL Semi-Final Preview- Melville Millionaires vs. Battlefords North Stars


 

"SJHL Semi-Final Series"
Melville Millionaires (34-16-2-4) 74 points vs Battlefords North Stars (36-17-0-3) 75 points
                                                                            
How Did they Get Here?
-- The Melville Millionaires defeated Kindersley Klippers 4 games to None in the SJHL's Quarter-Finals
-- The Battlefords North Stars beat the Estevan Bruins in the SJHL's Quarter-Finals, 4 games to 1.
Regular Season Head to Head
Sept. 24th- Melville over Battlefords 4-3
Sept 27th- Melville over Battlefords 3-2
Oct 5th-  Battlefords over Melville 5-4 SO
Oct 29th- Melville over Battlefords 4-2

(Mils) : 3-0-1
(North Stars): 1-3-0

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Top Scorers

Mils (Regular Season):

#10 Colin Mospanchuk- 53GP 20G 28A= 48 points
#9 Kelvin Walz - 54GP 20G 26A= 46 points
#20 Landon Farrell- 46GP 17G 20A= 37 points
#15 Allan Kilback - 28G{16G 17A= 33 points
#23 Reed Murray- 13G 19A= 32 points

Goaltending- Isaiah Plett- 28-18-3 record 2.37 GAA 0.924 SV %
Richard Palmer- 6-5 record 3.65 GAA 0.891 SV %

Mils (Playoffs):
#7 Brady Constant-  3G  1A=  4 points
#9 Kelvin Walz- 0G  4A= 4 points
#22 Lane Harbor- 2G  1A=  3 points
#20 Landon Farrell- 1G  2A=  3 points
#15 Allan Kilback-  2G  0A=  2 points
#10 Colin Mospanchuk-  1G  1A=  2 points
#6 Matt Carr-  0G  2A=  2 points

Goaltending: Isaiah Plett-- 4-0-0 record   1.49GAA  0.950%   1SO
                       Richard Palmer-
  

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North Stars (Regular Season):

#9 Cam Blair - 39GP  19G 26A= 45 Points
#15 Blake Young- 54GP  18G  25A= 43 Points
#12 Luke McCologan - 48GP  12G  27A= 39 Points
#8 Kyle Schmidt- 46GP  7G   27A= 34 Points
#19 Ryne Keller- 55GP  11G  21A= 32 points


Goaltending- Michael Gudmanson-- 20-3-1 record   1.74GAA  0.944%   4SO
                        Darren Martin-- 12-7-1 record    2.34GAA    0.923%     1SO


North Stars (Playoffs):

#9 Cam Blair- 5G  2A=  7 Points
#15 Blake Young- 2G  1A=  3 points
#8 Kyle Schmidt- 0G  3A=  3 points

#11 Nick Fountain- 2G  0A= 2 points

Goaltending: Michael Gudmandson-- 4-1-0 record  1.70GAA   0.944%   1SO
                       Darren Martin-

SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 1) Fri. March 28 Melville at Battlefords, 7:30pm (GX94)
Game 2) Sat. March 29 Melville at Battlefords, 7:30pm (GX94)
Game 3) Tues. April 1 Battlefords at Melville, 7:30pm
Game 4) Wed. April 2 Battlefords at Melville, 7:30pm
Game 5) Fri. April 4 Melville at Battlefords, 7:30pm **if necessary)
Game 6) Sun. April 6 Battlefords at Melville, 6:00pm **if necessary)
Game 7) Tues. April 8 Melville at Battlefords, 7:30pm **if necessary)

**If Necessary

(GX94)- Broadcasted on GX94 with Yorkton Dodge Junior Playoff Hockey, pregame 7:20.

Analysis:

October 29th, that'll be almost 5 months since these two teams have played each other and a lot has changed this then. Both teams have different players brought in that have made a difference. After starting the season 4-12 the North Stars went 32-5-0-3 to come all the back to claim the Kramer Division title, while the Mils only having 5 players return from last year, have surprised many along the way which led to Head Coach Jamie Fiesel being named the league's Coach of the Year for the first time.

In between the pipes , a very big reason for the success of the North Stars has been the play of their goaltender Michael Gudmandson who had a record of 20-3-1 as a North Star to lead him to be named recently as the SJHL's MVP. The Mils hope the consistent play of 20 year old Isaiah Plett will continue as after a very solid regular season, he came back with an even better Quarter-Final series, leading his team to a sweep of the Kindersley Klippers. So goaltending will definitely be a huge part of this series.

On the back end, the Mils as a whole have playing some very, very solid defensively play only allowing 2 goals in the last 3 games of the first round series with the likes Simon Genereux, Matt Carr and Alec Brandrup all chipping with offense, while veteran Adam Dibella returned in Game 4, and he will be an integral part of the Mils success going forward. The North Stars have a veteran, but underrated blueline with the likes of one time WHLer and Captain Kyle Schmidt &hard-nosed Dillion Forbes leading the charge while youngsters Latrel Charleston and Kendall Fransoo have showed they can play with the best of them.

Up front,  for the Mils they will need to be going as a full unit for them to be successful but the likes of Colin Mospanchuk, Kelvin Walz, and Allan Kilbackwho  have been the go to players for the Mils all season long and definitely will need to be at their best once again for the Mils. Lane Harbor was also very good for the Mils in round 1, and they will need his physical play to continue against the Stars skilled, and big forwards. For the Stars, they were looking for that number 1 Center for most of the season and they got him on Trade Deadline day acquiring Cam Blair from Flin Flon, and he has been everything they have wanted and more including a huge Quarter-Final series scoring 5 goals and 7 points in 5 playoff games this year. The Stars also have other dangerous players in NCAA commit Blake Young, former Yorkton Harvest star Jake McMillen and American forward Luke McCologan.

Let the predictions roll, down below.

Mils Coaches Show with Jamie Fiesel/ Semi-Final Preview

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