Forwards Jarrett Fontaine of Humboldt and Jordan Tkatch of Prud'Homme each played an integral part in the success of the Saskatchewan men's hockey team at the Canada Winter Games. Team Sask finished a respectable sixth at the Games, which were held Feb. 11-27 in Halifax, NS.
The boys from the easiest province to draw (and for some, the hardest to spell) got off to a sluggish 0-2 start in the Maritimes, losing 4-0 to Alberta and 6-1 to Manitoba. Tkatch scored the lone Saskatchewan goal against Manitoba on a set-up from Fontaine.
"We lost some guys early, so that hurt us quite a bit," noted Tkatch. "Two of our top defencemen got injured right away, so we kind of struggled on the back end. Then we lost our top forward, Alex Forsberg. The rest of us had to fight through that."
Tkatch noted the Sask squad had a tough time gelling initially, especially since they had only three or four practices together prior to landing in Halifax. By that time, some of the other provincial teams already had games under their belt, he said.
The injuries made it even tougher, but it also forced Saskatchewan to get back to basics.
"After that, we started to play more like a team," said Tkatch. "I don't know; maybe the injuries had something to do with it."
Tkatch and Fontaine certainly did their part. Each registered a goal and an assist in the team's third game, helping Team Sask earn a 5-3 victory over New Brunswick.
That was enough to get Saskatchewan into the relegation round, where they again defeated New Brunswick, this time by a 4-0 count. Tkatch picked up an assist.
Saskatchewan could do no better than sixth, however, as they fell to Manitoba 3-2 in an overtime squeaker in their relegation round final.
Neither Fontaine nor Tkatch figured in the scoring.
Tkatch said participating in the Winter Games was an "awesome" experience. It was also great to be able to share that experience with Fontaine.
"We're cousins," noted Tkatch. "We've been playing with or against each other almost our whole lives."
SMAAAHL Playoffs
On returning home there's been no rest for either player, as both were embroiled in the heat of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs.
Unfortunately Jarrett Fontaine's playoff run was rather shortlived, as his Tisdale Trojans were eliminated in three straight in their opening round series with the Sakatoon Contacts.
The Trojans were trounced 7-1 in game one of that series on Feb. 22, and lost 9-2 in game two on Feb. 24. The Contacts completed their sweep of the best-of-five series with a 6-2 victory last Saturday night. Fontaine assisted on both Tisdale goals in the final game.
Overall, Fontaine contributed 15 goals and 15 assists in 36 regular season games with Tisdale this season.
Tkatch chipped in with 13 goals and 13 assists in 37 games to help the Prince Albert Mintos finish first overall in the regular season standings. The Mintos are currently playing the eighth-place Yorkton Harvest in the best-of-five opening round.
Tkatch had a goal and three assists in the first game of the series to lead P.A. to a 6-3 win on Feb. 22. He added an assist in the Mintos' 3-0 victory last Thursday in game two.
The Harvest bounced back last Saturday night with a big 4-3 win in P.A., however, with game four scheduled for Yorkton on Monday night. Results weren't available at press time.
Tkatch said the Mintos will need to stay disciplined against the Harvest, who have a tendency to get under their opponents' skin.
He noted that his team "played 40 solid minutes" in the series opener, but then let down their guard in the final frame.
"The last 20 minutes weren't nearly as good for us. We can't retalitate against their kind of tactics."
