SJHL champ Mustangs rested, ready to go
Melfort carrying Saskatchewan hopes at 10-team Centennial Cup in Ontario
The Melfort Mustangs are rested, healed up for the most part and raring to go.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions hopped on a bus at 6 a.m. Tuesday to catch a flight out of Saskatoon later that morning for Toronto before heading to Oakville, Ont., site of this year's Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship tournament.
There, they'll join the host Oakville Blades, Winkler Flyers (Manitoba Junior Hockey League), Calgary Canucks (Alberta Junior Hockey League), Navan Grads (Central Canada Hockey League), Greater Sudbury Cubs (Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League), Sioux Lookout Bombers (Superior International Junior Hockey League), Collingwood Blues (Ontario Junior Hockey League), College Francais de Longueuil (Quebec) and Miramichi Timberwolves (Maritime Junior Hockey League).
Mustangs head coach and general manager Trevor Blevins said he's feeling “pretty good” about his team's chances at nationals.
“It's going to be exciting,” Blevins said as his team prepared to leave for Oakville. “The guys are dialed in. They're practising hard. We took a couple of days off after we won, but we've had a couple of good practices and we're ready to go.”
It's been quite the ride for the Mustangs, who have faced more than their share of injuries and adversity throughout the season with key players out for significant amounts of time.
“I think we kind of had an advantage in the playoffs, almost, because all season, as soon as I got (to Melfort), there were big players out with injuries and stuff,” noted Mustangs forward Clay Sleeva, a key acquisition from the Yorkton Terriers.
“We had sickness. We had suspensions. Even with guys barely in the lineup, we sometimes had four or five guys playing first line and we ended up pulling out wins. It helps in the playoffs — that adversity we faced, a lot of overtime. I think we were in really, really good shape (to handle it). I think it helped us out to pull it out against Flin Flon.”
Since joining the Mustangs, Sleeva recorded 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 24 regular-season games and another three goals and 17 assists for 20 points in 18 playoff games.
“I never really thought I'd go to nationals, but we did it and we're going so I'm super excited,” said Sleeva. “It's going to be a cool experience, for sure.”
ROCK-SOLID AGAINST TOP-RANKED BOMBERS
Melfort finished second overall in the SJHL during the regular season with a 38-14-3-1 record before eliminating the Estevan Bruins (26-26-2-2) in five games and the Humboldt Broncos (37-15-3-1) in seven games, with seven periods of overtime and 28 periods of hockey overall, before knocking off the top-ranked team in the country, the Flin Flon Bombers (44-9-21), in six games and three more OT periods.
“I'm very impressed,” Blevins said of his team, which will open up play Thursday night against Miramichi. “I couldn't be more proud of the group for basically buying in, but also the effort, playing hard every shift and really paying the price needed for success. They went out and put the work in. They knew they had to go and do it. Just a phenomenal group.
“I don't think you can single anybody out. It's just the way our group is. It's the next man up and, really, it didn't matter who was in the lineup. We just faced all sorts of adversity and they got it done on a nightly basis. Really, they did.”
Blevins called it a “special group right from the start” and praised their support at home.
“Just how it all went down with the crowd support from the city of Melfort backing us, and sold-out arenas, we can't thank Melfort enough as a community for jumping on board and really supporting these players,” added Blevins.
The Mustangs will carry a 26-player roster for the tournament, including a handful of affiliated players.
The lineup has been bolstered by the availability of Austin Shepherd, Nolan Roberts, Ty Thornton, Mathieu Pigeon, Logan Cox and Hayden Prosofsky. Ryan Duguay has one game left to serve of a suspension before he also returns.
“Right now, everybody can play (at nationals) except for (David) Rioux and (University of Maine commit Zac) Somers,” noted Blevins. “They were shut down for the year anyway (with concussions).”
In net is Saskatoon product James Venne, who has been stellar throughout the playoffs with a 2.50 goals-against average, 12-3-3 record and .925 save-percentage.
“Coming into the start of the year, Trevor believed in us and every single one of those guys and that's the exact reason (for winning),” said Venne. “We had six regulars out. We had APS (affiliate players) playing. Everybody asks me how we do it, but there are no words for it. We just get stuff done here. We just get it done.”