SCT Championships Start Today in Wadena

(submitted)

Fifteen men’s teams begin play Friday evening, January 3rd,  at the Wadena Curling Club in the Goldline SCT Championship.   Bragging rights as the 2013-14 Tour Champion and getting some much needed January game time prior to the Tankard, provide key reasons to enter.

Most importantly, the Tour Champion will capture a direct entry berth to the SaskTel Tankard Men’s Provincial Championship.  The sixteen team Tankard permits six direct entries while the other ten spots are declared through the regular playdown route to be played later this month.

Five teams have  already mathematically pre-qualified for the Tankard with their  WCT and SCT tour points and four of them are competing in Wadena.  These teams are Brock Virtue, Scott Bitz, Kevin Marsh and Darrell McKee.  Steve Laycock is the other pre-qualifier but his team is not in this event. 

That leaves eleven teams  in Wadena vying for that direct Tankard berth including Bruce Korte, Jeff Hartung and Josh Heidt.  If one of these eleven teams wins this event they are the automatic entry to the Tankard.  Should Virtue, Bitz, Marsh or McKee win, then the formula at the end of the article will determine the six direct entries.  A couple of teams in Saskatchewan are watching closely as they are not competing but are on the bubble to qualify based on the outcome in Wadena.

Games begin Friday evening at 6:00 PM with a second draw Friday at 9:00 PM.  Line scores will be on the CURLSASK website.  The Goldline SCT Championship concludes Sunday afternoon with the Final slated for 4:00PM.

For those teams not earning a direct entry, region playdowns will begin January 10th with winners advancing to the Northerns in Meadow Lake and the Southerns in Regina at the Highland starting January 16th, 2014.  The sixteen team SaskTel Tankard will be held in Shaunavon starting January 29th and running through to February 2nd, 2014.

 

1.    Brock Virtue

2.    Scott Bitz

3.    Kevin Marsh

4.    Darrel McKee

5.    Terry Marteniuk – Yorkton

6.    Jeff Hartung – Langenburg

7.    NATHAN GRUDNIZKI - Wadena

8.    Darren Camm

9.    Josh Heidt

10. Randy Woytowich

11. MIKE ARMSTRONG

12. BRUCE KORTE

13. WILLIAM COUTTS

14. JUSTIN MIHALICZ

15. George Hall

Boehm nets a pair to lead Terriers Past Mils in New Years Day Showdown

The Yorkton Terriers got a little revenge on their Highway 10 rivals on New Years Day as they defeated the Melville Millionaires 3-1 to regain top spot in the Viterra Division.

It was sluggish start for both sides as both teams couldn't get anything going especially on the offensive side of the puck. The game would remain scoreless until the 17:24 mark of the first period when Cortlan Procter would do a good job of keeping the puck in at the blueline and then would let a slap shot go that wuld bounce a couple of times and beat Isaiah Plett for his 4th of the season to give the Terriers a early 1-0 after 1 period.

In the 2nd, it would be the Terriers taking more of the play, but the Mils did have chances on the powerplay to try to get the equalizer but couldn't convert in the middle frame. The Terriers would get the lone goal in the 2nd period and it would come on the 4 on 4 as Brady Norrish would control the puck in the Mils zone and make a nice pass to Brett Boehm (pictured above) in the slot and his one timer would hit the back of the night for his 14th of the season to push the lead to 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.

In the 3rd, the Terriers would get off to a quick start as Boehm would get his 2nd of the night and 15th of the season to push the lead to 3 at 3-0. The Mils would break the shutout of Kale Thomson at the 9:37 mark of the 3rd period as Adam Dibella would wrist one from the point that would make it into the back of the net for his 3rd goal of the season to give the Mils some life at 3-1. But that's as close as they would get.

Kale Thomson stopped 18 of 19 shots for the victory while Isaiah Plett made 28 saves in a losing cause.

The Terriers next action will be on Friday when they host the front end of a home and home with the Melfort Mustangs, pregame show gets going at 7:20 on GX94, puck drop 7:30. The Mils will also be on the road on Saturday when they visit the Weyburn Red Wings at 7:30

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While in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League,

The Swan Valley Stampeders started 2014 on the right foot as they defeated the OCN Blizzard 6-4 at the Centennial Arena.

Nic Erb led the way with a hat trick for the Stamps while Andrew Howard, Brayden McDonald and Bo Sigurdson also scored. Tyler Grove had a couple goals for the Blizzard in a losing cause.

Graham Hunt stopped 30 of 34 shots for his 1st MJHL victory. The Stamps next action will be on Saturday night when they host the Selkirk Steelers at the Centennial Arena at 7:30.

Langenburg's Hartung captures Provincial Junior Men's Curling Championships

The time has finally come for Langenburg's Tyler Hartung to wear Saskatchewan curlings green jacket as his rink of Mat Ring, Brendan Ryan and Brandon Leippi captured the Saskatchewan Junior men's curling championship with a 9-7 win over Saskatoons Chad Lang.

The win caps off a perfect week for the rink as they were undefeated on their way to the title. 

Hartung and his rink will now represent Saskatchewan at the 2014 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships Jan. 18th- 26th in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. 

Mils score 3 in the 3rd to comeback and defeat Terriers on Monday Night

The Melville Millionaires score 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd period and that was enough to double up the Yorkton Terriers 4-2 on Monday night to take over 1st place in the Viterra division, 1 point ahead the Terriers.

The Terriers would open up the first with a lot more jump then the Mils controlling much of period number 1 and they would rewarded as Tayler Thompson would deflect home a Brett Boehm shot over top of Isaiah Plett for his 10th goal of the season to give the Terriers an early 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

It would be a tale of two periods in the 2nd period as the Mils would have most of the control including a couple early powerplays, and that's where they would get their first goal as a mad scramble would develop in front of Kale Thomson and it would be dman Adam Dibella jumping on the loose puck and potting home his 2nd goal of the season to even it up at 1-1 after 2 periods of play.

In the 3rd it would be once again the Terriers get the first marker and it would be AP Adam Santoro getting his 1st SJHL goal deflecting one home past Plett to regain the Terriers one goal lead at 2-1.
The Mils would once again even it back home at 11:47 of the 3rd, when Tyson Predinchuk would go top shelf on Thomson for his 17th to push the game to a 2-2 tie. The Mils would then get a late powerplay and with 2:07 left on the clock it would be Landon Farrell (pictured above) taking a nice feed in front from Lane Harbor and putting home his 10th goal of the season to give the Mils their first lead at 3-2. Colin Mospanchuk would ice it for the Mils in the final minute with an empty netter to make it a 4-2 Mils final.

Isaiah Plett stopped 26 of 28 shots for the victory while Kale Thomson stopped 29 shots in a losing cause.

The rematch and back end of this home n home on New Years Day. 1:50/2:00pm on GX94 with Yorkton Dodge Junior Hockey from the FAA.

Swan Valley loses final game of 2013 in Neepawa

The Swan Valley Stampeders lost their final game of the calendar year as they were doubled up 6-3 by the Neepawa Natives on Sunday night. 

Max Flanagan, Braydon McDonald, and Bo Sigurdson scored the markers for the Stamps while Luke Karakas led the way for the Natives with a couple of goals. 

Graham Hunt got his 2nd straight start and stopped 37 of 43 in a losing cause. 

The Stamps next game will be on New Years Day when they host the OCN Blizzard at 2pm from th Centennial Arena. 

Stamps lose in 1st Game of Post Xmas Sked

The Swan Valley Stampeders lost in their first game of their Post Christmas schedule as they dropped a 5-1 decision to the Sherwood division leading Virden Oil Capitals.

Max Flanagan's league leading 28th goal was the lone marker for the Stampeders in a losing cause. The Oil Caps got goals from 5 different goal scorers with former Yorkton Terrier Curtis Oliver leading the way with 1G 1A.

Adam Iwan stopped 24 shots for the win while newcomer Graham Hunt stopped 36 of 41 shots in a losing cause.

The Stampeders will go right back at it tomorrow night (Sun) when they visit the Neepawa Natives for a 6:30 Puck drop.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from Walchuk's World