Koch SUPERU – Change the Way You Grow
Dave Leaderhouse
The Melfort Mustangs entered the 2020-21 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League regular season with a solid class of sophomore talent and Seth McCulloch was just starting to flex his muscles, literally, before play was stopped in November due to the on-going effects of the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound forward from Coutts, Alta., was off to a rousing start to his second SJHL season having registered three points and 24 minutes in penalties with the bulk of that coming in the first two games when the Mustangs began play with a sweep of the Flin Flon Bombers.
Despite the small sample size the 19-year-old was already well on his way to eclipsing the marks he posted during his freshman campaign in Melfort when he tallied 10 points and 117 penalty minutes in 49 games last year.
McCulloch arrived in Melfort prior to the 2019-20 season after completing his midget hockey with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League. McCulloch had 10 points in 34 games for the Hurricanes, a team he had seen some action with the year prior when Lethbridge captured the provincial championship.
While he never registered any points with the Hurricanes in his first taste of Midget AAA action, he did average more than a point-per-game with his regular squad as a 16-year-old as McCulloch netted 11 goals and added 23 assists in 32 games with the Taber Golden Suns.
His first season of midget hockey also saw him reach the pinnacle when he notched 14 points in 35 games to help the under-16 Lethbridge Hurricanes capture the Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League championship.
Melfort was on a three-game slide when action was suspended in November and if play does resume this year it is fairly clear that the grit and improved play shown by players like McCulloch will once again make them a threat on any given night.
With one more season of junior eligibility remaining, the Mustangs have a lot to look forward to and with McCulloch being part of a large group of 2001-born players, they will certainly have a lot of leadership pointing them in the right direction.
