MELFORT — The Melfort Mustangs’ playoff run came to an end in Game 7 of a hard-fought quarterfinal series against the Yorkton Terriers (29-22-1-6 in the regular season).
The Mustangs fell 3-1 at home on March 29 in the final contest with Yorkton’s third goal going into an empty net. Two of Melfort’s losses came in either overtime or double overtime.
Clarke Huxley paced the Mustangs with nine points in seven postseason contests. The team had added the forward from Calgary at the Jan. 10 trade deadline. Marco Lopez led the team in playoff goals with four. Defenceman Mark Snarr had the most Mustang blue line points in the postseason with five assists. In net, Joel Favreau played all seven games. He had a 2.26 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.
In the 2021-22 regular season, Melfort won the SJHL’s Sherwood Division with a 34-15-4-5 record. The squad had strong support from the community. In the playoffs, the Mustangs drew an average crowd of 1,015, including 1,327 for its final game.
When captain Ben Tkachuk was asked what he enjoyed most the season, he said, “Definitely the best part was the group of guys and the lifelong friendships I have made with my teammates.”
The Mustangs had eight 2001-born players this season who age out of junior hockey. They are forwards Nolan Doell, Seth McCulloch, Carter Anderson, Tye Scherger, Curtis Hammond, and Lopez; and defencemen Lucas Ochitwa and Snarr. The team has long been at work on next season’s roster. It has signed some players and on April 2-3 held its spring camp for Saskatchewan players born 2002-2007 and those outside the province born 2004 or earlier.
The Mustangs last week
SJHL Quarterfinals
Yorkton wins 4-3
Game 7
Tuesday, March 29 in Melfort
Yorkton 3, Melfort 1
Mustangs Scorer: Curtis Hammond
Terriers Scorers: Erik Boers (2), Kishaun Gervais
Goalies: Joel Favreau, Melfort, 32 saves on 34 shots; Kael DePape, Yorkton, 32 on 33
Attendance: 1,327
Notes: The host Mustangs grabbed a 1-0 first period lead. On a second period powerplay, Boers tied the contest at 1-1. In the third, Boers put Yorkton up 2-1 before Gervais added an empty net goal. The Terriers advanced to play Estevan, the SJHL’s top seed, and trailed that series, 2-0, as of Monday.
