The SJHL Power Rankings are decided each and every week by a group of SJHL broadcasters and will be released each Tuesday.
1. Battlefords North Stars 20-0-2-1 (Last Week 1st) – The beat continues to go on for the Battlefords North Stars as the club remains undefeated in regulation through 23 games this season. The Stars earned a pair of wins this past week over the Flin Flon Bombers in Wilkie and Battleford. Saktel Goalie of the Week Josh Kotai was outstanding for the club, making 109 saves in two games and the number one line of Kian Bell, Jake Southgate, and Holden Doell continue to lead the league in scoring. The Stars will be at home against La Ronge this week for a pair of games.
2. La Ronge Ice Wolves 16-7-1-0 (Last Week 2nd) – It was another impressive weekend for the La Ronge Ice Wolves as they completed the weekend sweep of the Weyburn Red Wings with a pair of dominant wins at the Mel. La Ronge continues to get offence from up and down their line-up and have had solid goaltending from both Dawson Smith and Topher Chirico. As a result, the club has won 6 straight games. However, now the Wolves will head out on the road for 3 games in 3 nights, which begins on Wednesday in Humboldt against the Broncos and will then continue with two games against the Stars.
3. Flin Flon Bombers 15-5-2-1 (Last Week 3rd) – The Flin Flon Bombers spent plenty of time on the bus this past week as they hit the road for 4 games in 4 different arenas. The Bombers ended up going 2-1-1-0 on the trip and earned 5 out of a possible 8 points. Cole Duperreault led the way with 4 goals and 4 assists and was named SGEU MVP of the Week. Flin Flon and La Ronge sit tied at the top of the Sherwood division with 33 points, but the Bombers do have a game in hand. The Bombers will be back on the ice Friday when they travel to Melfort to kick off a home and home with the Mustangs.
4. Melfort Mustangs 11-8-4-0 (Last Week 5th) – After an inconsistent start to the season, the Melfort Mustangs are beginning to turn it around as the team has won four straight games. Melfort earned a 4-1 win at home Wednesday night against the Weyburn Red Wings, and despite missing some key members of their club Saturday against Humboldt, the Mustangs earned a 3-2 overtime win against the Broncos. They will now look to extend their winning streak this weekend when they meet the Flin Flon Bombers in a home and home.
5. Estevan Bruins 15-13-0-0 (Last Week 6th) – The Estevan Bruins got back on track this weekend with a pair of 3-2 victories within the division. Friday night the black and gold came back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a win in Melville. Then the next night, Kade Runke would score the game winner late in the 3rd period to give the Bruins 2 points in Yorkton. The defending SJHL Champions are now 15-13-0-0 on the season and have a 13 point lead at the top of the Viterra division. They will look to extend that lead Friday night when they visit the Weyburn Red Wings in their lone game of the week.
6. Humboldt Broncos 15-7-1-0 (Last Week 4th) – After getting off to such a hot start to the season, the Humboldt Broncos have come back down to earth a little but and have cooled off as of late. The Broncos went 1-1-1-0 this week, earning 3 out of a possible 6 points, but are 4-5-1-0 in their last 10 games. As a result, both the Flin Flon Bombers and La Ronge Ice Wolves have past the Broncos in the SJHL standings. The Broncos current homestand will continue this week as they welcome La Ronge on Wednesday and Yorkton on Saturday.
7. Notre Dame Hounds 9-11-1-0 (Last Week 7th) – The Notre Dame Hounds split their games this week as their up and down month continued. Wednesday they fell 6-2 at home to the Humboldt Broncos, but bounced back Friday with an impressive 5-1 win in Yorkton against the Terriers. Similar to Humboldt, the Hounds are 4-5-0-1 in their last 10 and are looking to find some consistency. One player who has stood out lately for the Hounds has been Jacob Ligi, who had 4 assists this past week in 2 games and was named Directwest Rookie of the Week. Following the postponement of the game between the Red Wings & Hounds scheduled for Tuesday, Notre Dame won’t be back on the ice until Sunday when they host the Kindersley Klippers.
8. Nipawin Hawks 9-12-1-1 (Last Week 8th) – Following the back and forth game between the Hawks and Klippers which saw Nipawin earn a 5-4 win in a shootout, the two clubs met again this past weekend at the West Central Events Centre in Kindersley. The Hawks would earn a split on the road, winning 7-4 on Friday after they trailed the game 4-0, but then fell on Saturday 6-3. Nipawin currently sits in the final playoff spot in the SJHL going into this week. The Hawks have just one game this week and it isn’t until Sunday when they travel to Melville for a meeting with the Millionaires.
9. Kindersley Klippers 5-10-0-4 (Last Week 11th) – The Kindersley Klippers returned to the West Central Events Centre this weekend and earned a split over the Nipawin Hawks. However, it could have been better for the Klippers who led 4-0 in Friday night’s game. Regardless, the team earned 2 big points Saturday prior to an extremely busy week on the road. The Klippers will play 5 games in 6 days beginning Tuesday night in Yorkton against the Terriers. On this trip Kindersley will play Yorkton twice, Melville twice, and wrap up the trip in Wilcox against the Notre Dame Hounds Sunday.
10. Weyburn Red Wings 8-14-0-1 (Last Week 9th) – It was a tough week for the Weyburn Red Wings. Following 11 days off, the Wings had to hit the road for 3 games in 4 days which began in Melfort and wrapped up with two games in La Ronge. Unfortunately for Weyburn, they were unable to earn any points on the road and build off of their strong play prior to their lengthy layoff. The Wings will look to get back in the win column and snap a 4 game losing streak Friday night when they host their Highway 39 rivals, the Estevan Bruins.
11. Yorkton Terriers 8-13-0-0 (Last Week 10th) – The Yorkton Terriers returned to the Westland Arena this past weekend to begin a four game homestand, but it wasn’t the results they were hoping for. The Terriers dropped both of their games this weekend to Notre Dame and Estevan, and only managed to find the back of the net 3 times. Going into this week, Yorkton is the lowest scoring team in the SJHL. The Terriers are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10 and will look to snap a 3 game losing streak Tuesday night when they host the Kindersley Klippers.
12. Melville Millionaires 6-14-1-1 (Last Week 12th) – The Millionaires are hopeful this week sparks a turn around for the club with 3 big games against teams they are battling with in the bottom half of the standings. The Mills lost their lone game this past week 3-2 to Estevan and have now lost 6 straight and are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10. Noah Wills and Zach Cain continue to produce for the club, but they are hopeful some new additions and secondary scoring can help them get out of their slump. Melville hosts Kindersley Wednesday and Saturday, and then wrap up the week Sunday against Nipawin.
