CANORA - “It’s Canora, it’s Wapella, it’s the Winter Lights Festival. It’s Hockey Night in Canora!”
That fired up introduction from the Voice of the Cobras Pat Miechkota, brought the Cobras and the visiting Wapella Blackhawks to the ice for the home opener on Nov. 30 at the Civic Centre.
Even with everything else going on, one of the biggest cheers of the evening came just before the opening faceoff when Miechkota announced that the Cobras were donated the proceeds of the game’s 50/50 draw to the two Canora families that recently lost their homes to fire, which turned out to be $500 per family.
Cobras Coach Darren Schwartz said the team was excited to hit the ice for the first time in Canora in the new season.
“We weren’t happy with how the game in Rocanville ended last weekend with the overtime loss,” said Schwartz. ”We were ready to go out and play for the home fans.”
It turned out to be a positive night all around for local fans, as the Cobras defeated Wapella 6-3 in a hotly contested game.
Canora got on the Blackhawks defence early and had plenty of changes, but Wapella scored first on a long-distance screened shot, which “I don’t think anyone saw it, including our goalie Rylan Palchewich,” said Schwartz.
The Cobras tied the score before the end of the first period, but the coach wasn’t all that pleased.
“We weren’t ready to play like we should, we haven’t been on the ice together enough yet,” said Schwartz. “We got better as the game went on, but we’re a still a long way from where we need to be as a team.”
Each team scored in the first two minutes of the second period, including another somewhat fortunate goal for Wapella
“The puck went off the top of the net, down our goalie’s back and rolled into the net. I told our guys, ‘If they get another lucky one like that, we might not recover,’ but I liked the way we responded,” said Schwartz. “We got lots of shots, and you never know when they might go in.”
It looked like the game might be tied going into the third. But newcomer Carson Dereniwsky of Canora scored a late goal in his first home game to give the Cobras the edge going into the third period.
The Cobras pulled away by outscoring Wapella 3-1 in the final 20 minutes, including an assist from their goalie.
“Rylan made a nice pass to set up a goal,” said Schwartz. “It’s always great to see the goalie get involved in the offence.”
Palchewich later took a shot at the Wapella goal when the Blackhawks pulled their goalie, but unfortunately, the puck hit the Civic Centre rafters.
Frustration seemed to be building late in the game, and some rough stuff broke out near the Cobras bench. Schwartz had a good look at the altercation, and wasn’t happy with how it was handled by the referee.
“Their guy punched Ryley Stefanyshyn, and he responded. The ref said it was a one-man fight, and because of that, Ryley gets an automatic one-game suspension so we’ll be without our captain.”
Logan Foster of Kamsack led the Cobras offence with two goals and two assists. Derrick Schwartz of Runnymede, another Cobras newcomer, also potted two goals and added a single helper. In addition to Dereniwsky, the other goal came from the stick of Kody Rock of Canora, with his fourth in the first three games of the season. Scott Mickoski matched Foster on the playmaking side with a pair of assists. In addition to Palchewich, single helpers were contributed by Casey Mydonick of Canora, Troy Zulyniak of Yorkton, and Dereniwsky.
Next action for the Cobras is on Saturday, Dec. 7, on the road against the Cote Selects, where they’ll by without Stefanyshyn. That will be followed by another three consecutive road games.
The Cobras return home during the holiday season for a Dec. 27 tilt against their Highway 9 rivals, the Preeceville Pats.
Schwartz said it’s probably more important than ever to get every possible point this season, whether it’s early or late in the season, at home or on the road.
“For the playoffs, going from the division format last season to 1 vs 8 this season, we really have no idea who we’ll play in the first round. We need to earn home ice advantage for as many rounds as possible.”
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