The Meadow Lake U18 Stampeders are two wins away from provincial gold. The team advanced to the U18 ‘A’ northern provincial final this past weekend after securing a win over the Warman Wildcats. “The boys pulled out a 6-1 victory over Warman Sunday (March 1), so we’re moving on to the next round, which is the northern finals,” explained U18 coach Kim Kozloski. The final will see the Stamps come up against the team from Martensville with the action expected to get underway this weekend.
“Martensville just beat out North Battleford, and Battleford had a really good team,” Kozloski said. “I believe Martensville will come at us pretty hard and with a lot of confidence. We played Martensville twice this season, however, and we beat them both times, but, when it comes to provincial hockey, things could be different because the intensity is cranked up quite a bit. It’s do or die, so things could change quite quickly. I think it will be a really good series with two great teams. It should be a good one.” As is the case with all minor hockey provincial action, each series is contested as a modified best-of-three. Teams need to win two games to advance, and, if a series is tied at one game apiece, a mini game is held to determine the winner. “We were successful against Warman in Game 1 at home last Sunday (Feb. 22),” Kozloski added. “We beat them 9-3 in what was one of the bet games I saw the boys play all year. They were working hard at both ends of the ice. Things we worked on all season long to get to this point were coming to fruition – it was great to see that effort and for them to get a big win on home ice.”
The Stamps had a bye in the first round. Kozloski, meanwhile, said the true reward is seeing the young hockey players have an opportunity to compete at such a high level. “Not everyone gets a chance to compete at this level of hockey,” he said. “It’s good for these young men to experience sport at the highest level they can participate at. The thing with any sport is you’re always trying to be better than you were the day before. What I see with this group of boys is exactly that. Last year’s U18 team was a very good one, and there were a lot of expectations on this group to be the same. These expectations were unrealistic because we’re a different team than we were last year. Just to see that core group that returned, along with a lot of the new players, step up has been great to see. Their development as individuals and as a team have been amazing.”
As far as league play is concerned, the Stamps played their last regular season game Saturday (Feb. 28). “The standings are set,” Kozloski said. “We’re in second or third place, and will compete in the first round of playoffs with the winner of our series moving on the meet the Battleford Barons in the final. Over the course of the season it’s also been nice to see the support of the community. I appreciate it, a the guys appreciate it as well.” Meanwhile, the U13 ‘A’ Stampeders also recently competed at the provincial level. “Our primary roster consists of Meadow Lake players, but we also have one from Canoe Lake, a couple from Flying Dust, one from the Goodsoil area and another from Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation,” explained U13 coach Jeff Vidal. “We played Martensville in the first round of provincials. In our first game we came out strong and were up 4-2 to start the third period, but had a bit of a collapse and lost the game 7-5. The following weekend (Feb. 22), we didn’t have our best performance and lost 10-1 in Martensville.” Vidal said the team just didn’t have its best showing. “I think we were a little tired come our fourth game of the weekend (the team played two league games in Prince Albert between the two provincial games),” he noted. “We didn’t play our best game Sunday for sure.”
League play for the U13 Stamps carried on with three games this past weekend. Playoffs started last night (Wednesday, March 4) in Meadow Lake against Shellbrook with Game 2 this coming Sunday in Shellbrook. “We just need to keep moving forward,” Vidal said. “Provincials can be really interesting because the Martensville team was a combination of two Saskatoon teams. So, we hadn’t seen them all year. You’re playing an opponent you’re trying to make adjustments for as you figure out what they’re doing and what they’re good at. We’ve been having a good year. We don’t really have any superstars, just a real, complete team top to bottom. If we’re all playing good, simple hockey, things go well for us.” Another local team to compete at the provincial level was the U15 Stampeders coached by Mike Siklenka. “We played Edam in the first round,” Siklenka said. “Edam was a combination team with kids from multiple towns from the northwest. We opted to stick with who we had. We knew we were going to be in tough against them. They had a very talented team, but I felt our kids were up for the challenge. They were two very action-packed, fast-paced hockey games.”
Meadow Lake was eliminated in the first round, but league play is still ongoing. “Standings-wise we are closer to the bottom, but play-wise it’s been a very rewarding season in my mind,” Siklenka said. “We started slow, there were some concerns with how things were going to go for our team, but through the commitments of the players and of the parents, we’ve had a very successful season. We’ve become a lot better and are playing some very competitive hockey right now. A lot of the games are very close with a lot of back-and-forth. Provincials kind of deflated us a little bit, but I believe we can do better as we head into league playoffs.”
Siklenka said his team put everything on the line for the provincial run. “Now, we have to refocus and get ready for playoffs,” he said. “I’m just trying to get these kids to believe in themselves and in the fact they can win some hockey games. As a coach, that is one thing I trie to get in their minds. League play is one thing, but, come provincials, that’s when you really get to showcase yourself as an individual, as a team and as a community. That’s where people take notice of who you are, where you’re from… It is important. I give credit to my U15 team. They were up for the challenge and it was probably some of the best hockey they played all year. Unfortunately, it just didn’t end the way we would have wanted.”
