By TERRY PUGH
With three more games left in the regular season, the Warman U18AAA Wildcats are no doubt relieved they’ve already locked up a playoff spot so they can focus on tightening up their game for a post-season run.
February hasn’t been kind to the Wildcats, who’ve lost three out of five games so far this month. Their two victories both came on the road against the struggling Yorkton Maulers (5-1 on February 7 and 4-1 on February 8). They dropped two decisions to the high-flying Regina Pat Canadians – losing 6-4 in Regina on February 5 and 5-2 at home on February 14. But the loss that hurt the most was a 5-4 overtime decision to the host Tisdale Trojans on February 15.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, the losses don’t really matter at this point because the teams below them in the standings can’t catch them.
As of February 17, the Wildcats are currently sitting in sixth place in the Saskatchewan Male U18AAA Hockey League with 52 points; while the fifth place Swift Current Legionnaires also have 52 points and fourth place Estevan Innovex Bears have 54 points. The Saskatoon Blazers are sitting comfortably in third spot with 60 points. The Regina Pat Canadians are in first place with 73 points, but the Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors are close behind with 72 points.
While the top six teams are guaranteed post-season berths, three teams are battling hard for the last two playoff spots. The Tisdale Trojans, currently in ninth spot with 36 points, badly needed a victory over Warman on February 15 to stay in the hunt. They’re hoping to leapfrog over the eighth-place Saskatoon Contacts (38 points) and seventh place Battlefords Stars (39 points) before the regular season ends February 22.
The tenth-place Prince Albert Mintos (32 points) still have a faint hope of making the playoffs, but for both the eleventh-place Yorkton Maulers (16 points) and twelfth-place Notore Dame Hounds (13 points), a merciful end to the regular season can’t come soon enough.
The Wildcats have played solid hockey over the winter, with a competitive 25-14-2-0 record that kept them in the middle of the pack. And their record shows they can go toe-to-toe with any other team in the league.
They looked good against the visiting Regina Pat Canadians for the first 37 minutes in the February 14 game, but ultimately couldn’t match the Regina squad’s skill and determination in the late stages.
Warman’s Nixxon Arcand Vandale got the Wildcats on the board in the first period. Regina’s Eli Heroux tied things up on a power play midway through the middle frame, but Warman’s Cash Arcand Vandale scored on a power play to put the Wildcats ahead 2-1. It was a short-lived lead, because Regina’s Dane Mansuy and Ryker Doka scored before the end of the period. Doka, with his second of the night, and Brady Vipond, scored in the third to give the visitors the win.
In the February 15 game, Cam Aebig of Rosthern scored Tisdale’s opening goal early in the first period before the Wildcats’ Dawson Baht of Martensville replied to tie things up. At the end of the second period it was 4-2 for Tisdale (Jacob Tait, Kash Elke and Carter Hudyma tallying for Tisdale) while Declan Borthwick scored for Warman. Dawson Gamble and Declan Borthwick found the twine for Warman in the third to force overtime. Carter Hudyma gave Tisdale the winning goal in overtime.