Melfort has definitely gotten better in the last month and I expect them to continue to be a real force heading into the second half of the season. Charles Corsi is the best goalie in the league, from what I've seen so far and the team has excellent speed.
Newcomer Sterling Bear looks like he's going to put up some numbers and I was really impressed with Brody Haygarth. I'm always impressed with Haygarth, actually. I'm surprised he doesn't have more than 24-points in 22-games; although that's certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Lee Christensen had a good game last night too, flashing some of the skills that made him a World Junior 'A' Challenge selection last season. Mitch Berg got a ton of ice time on the back end as well and looks to be developing nicely.
Darrell Mann builds his teams similar to what Brian Burke claims to do in Toronto. Mann, clearly, establishes a top six with his forwards and a bottom six. Last night, it appeared as though the top six were Mireau, Haygarth, Bear, Roschuk, Wihak, and Aschim. They also got decent games from the likes of Threndayle, Bradshaw, and Lenard. If that continues, their depth is going to wear other teams down.
I was anxious to see Humboldt because their recent struggles were puzzling to me. They played a gusty game with a ton of emotion last night. I wouldn't be surprised to see them go on another prolonged winning streak.
To do that, though, they are going to need better goaltending. There were two that Andrew Bodnarchuk stops on most nights. Judging by the numbers, both Bodnarchuk and Matt Hrynkiw have seen their goals against averages rise in the last couple of weeks.
The Bronco championship teams were deep on the back end and they have a lot to choose from again this year. Josh Roach is a lot like Brady Wacker, only without the physical edge. Young Logan Sproule got a ton of ice time last night too. Chase Wharton, Gabe Minville, and steady veteran Kenton Valliant all bring something to the table and Nathan Hudema had a big goal. That's all six that played last night right there.
With apologies to Robbie Ciolfi in Yorkton, Justin Buzzeo is the single best player in the SJHL that is a threat every single time he's on the ice. Buzzeo also had a fight last night too, with Adam Wihak, and I felt that jump started the Broncos.
Some of the other guys up front that I really liked last night included Matt Glowa, Steve Taylor, and Ward Szucki. Glowa's the real deal and is only going to get better. Taylor has improved a ton from last year and Szucki is going to be one of those players that you can forget about as an opposing team because you are always concerned with Buzzeo, Boyer, and Braaten; but Szucki can just as easily burn you.
It should be pointed out Nick Keller didn't play last night and he's a top 15 scorer in the league. Troy Gasper was ejected for checking from behind fairly early in the game, so that's two pretty important players out of the line-up for Humboldt last night.
Haygarth really hit a defenseman behind the net in the final seconds last night and it started a melee that, easily, could have ended up being a brawl. The hit was, probably, clean; but I don't think the Broncos liked the fact it occured with just 2 seconds left in the game and the result wasn't in doubt. The only thing that prevented the brawl, in my opinion, is the Junior 'A' Supplement, which would have called for serious penalties to anyone that participates in such extra curricular activity.
Dean Brockman, who's usually as calm and collected as anybody anywhere as far as a hockey coach is concerned, was pretty fired up and he had an animated exchange with Mann at the end of the game that also ended up seeing players from both teams go right to the edge of their benches. It was great! It's obvious these two teams do not like each other and it's also obvious they will push each other to be better every team they go head to head.
Call me a homer, but I still think Yorkton is a bit better than the Broncos (at this point and time) and I like their make-up. When Humboldt won championships, a big reason was due to the fact they had very steady goaltending and a kingpin defense. Well, Devin Peters is that steady guy between the pipes for the Terriers and their defense is that much better now with Davis Vandane in the mix. If you can pencil in, nightly, a blueline of Vandane, Blaine Tendler, Devon McMullen, Kurtis Decker, and Kelly Leismeister (you need to really watch Decker and Leismeister to really appreciate how well they play and how much better they allow their more offensive partners to be) then you are in excellent shape. I'm not convinced the Terriers have seen the last of Austin Bourhis either.
So, if I was to rank the top teams at the moment....
1-YORKTON
2-HUMBOLDT
3-ESTEVAN
4-MELFORT
5-LA RONGE
They are all so close though and I think you could make an argument that if you flipped this list upside down, it would also be correct!
.....but, don't look now.....the Flin Flon Bombers have won 5 in a row......
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