CANORA - A hockey season packed with numerous memorable moments ended for the Canora Cobras on March 29, when the Rocanville Tigers defeated the Cobras 5-2 to win the best-of-five SEHL league championship series 3-0 in front of the usual packed rink in Canora.
The home team received some added inspiration prior to the game when they found out Logan Foster of the Cobras, who took a puck in the mouth during Game 2, was in the lineup. Even after breaking a bone that holds in his teeth and going through surgery, Foster had participated in the warmup for Game 3 and declared himself fit to play. “He really showed that he wants to win,” said Cobras Coach Darren Scwartz. “Even though he was hurt, he was still playing, and that usually pushes his teammates to pick up their game. Logan scored a goal for us and really played well, considering his injury.”
Game 3 started with an early goal for Rocanville, but that was the only scoring in the first period. “We had a five-minute power play but couldn’t get many shots,” said Schwartz. “That may have been the difference in the game.”
The Tigers nursed their one-goal lead until late in the second period when they scored in the last minute, which turned out to be too much for the Cobras to overcome in the third period. “We were pressing for the tying goal, which created chances for them and they took advantage,” said Schwartz.
The Cobras kept battling, and managed goals from Foster, assisted by Kody Rock and Mathew Wilgosh of Canora, and Jake Heerspink, assisted by Cody Dubas of Invermay and Scott Mickoski, but Canora ran out of time.
“We had trouble scoring throughout the series,” said Schwartz. “We were usually well over 40 shots per game during the season, but we were nowhere near that against Rocanville. Our goalies both played very well, we definitely can’t fault them.”
Even though the Cobras came up short in the final series, Schwartz said the experience should be a big help to the players down the road. “Against a hungry, veteran team, we found out what we need to do next year to get better.”
The ending was not what he had hoped for, but Cobras’ General Manager Cal Homeniuk said it was a positive season. “We got to the league final after losing out to Swan Valley the previous year in the first round,” said Homeniuk. “Our goal scoring was up. We had 120 goals in 14 games this year compared to 80 goals the previous year in 18 games.
“One highlight for me was the regular season game against Rocanville in January. At the time we only had one loss and they had no losses. We won that game 6 to 2.
“Another highlight was the North Final against Swan Valley. In a best-of five we were down two games to none, and we came back and win three straight. That was a great character builder.”
An impressive accomplishment that took place during a period of over three months was the Cobras’ 17-game winning streak that stretched from mid-November until late February.
Homeniuk said the local fans had a lot to do with the success of the Cobras. “Fan support was off the charts this year. I believe we have the best fans in the league. Win or lose, they were there cheering us on. If not for them we don't have a team in Canora, so thank you to the fans.”
After the team gets together for a windup event, Homeniuk said work will begin to get ready for next season, including “player recruitment, finding out who is not returning. We need to fill a few holes to get us to the next level because every other team is getting better.
“We are looking at doing some fundraising, so stay tuned. Overall it was a good year, we moved the needle to the next level and we have to keep moving it to win the championship,” concluded Homeniuk.
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