After months of waiting and uncertainty, the La Ronge Ice Wolves will finally open the 2020-21 SJHL campaign on Friday night at home versus the Nipawin Hawks.
“I think the boys are ready to go,” said Ice Wolves Head Coach and GM Kevin Kaminski. “Patty (Gaelan Patterson) did a good job of getting the video ready on Nipawin. Now it’s time to take a deep breath, relax and go do the things that got you here. Just be disciplined within the systems and pride all of the little things that we teach you, and let’s start off the campaign with a big W tomorrow night.”
The Ice Wolves were in the midst of a thrilling first-round playoff series with the Yorkton Terriers when the SJHL playoffs were cancelled back in March. The series was even at two games apiece.
La Ronge went 2-1-1 in four contests with the Flin Flon Bombers during SJHL exhibition action. The focus for the Ice Wolves immediately shifts to the regular season and the players are looking forward to playing meaningful hockey again.
“We’re all pretty excited here, we’ve been waiting for a while, get the first four exhibition games out of the way and we’re pretty pumped to have Nipawin come in here on Friday,” said La Ronge forward Nolan Doell. “They’re (Nipawin) going to be a tough team to play, same as everyone in this league and it will be a good, hard-fought battle.”
Attendance in the SJHL will be limited to 150 fans per game to start the season. However, the Flin Flon Bombers are allowed to have 25 per cent capacity. The Ice Wolves announced ticket information earlier this week for home games.
Meantime, Friday’s game gets underway at 7:30 p.m. from the Mel Hegland Uniplex. You can catch the action live on MBC Network Radio with Braden Malsbury. The pre-game show kicks off at 7:20 p.m.
The Ice Wolves will conclude their weekend on Saturday in Nipawin versus the Hawks.
NEW FACES
Nolan Allan
Garrett Hunter
Josh Makarchuk
Tristan Lambert
Adam McNutt
Matthew Poole
Alex Bell
Beau Larson
William Smith
Mathieu Belanger
Narek Aleksanyan
Andrew Blocker
Josh Paulhus
Ethan Strik
Gavin Mattey
Walker Jerome
Carter Albrecht
Brandon Della Paolera
RETURNING PLAYERS
Kaiden Collumb
Logan Holm
Xavier Cannon
Liam McGarva
Chad McIlwain
Nolan Doell
Aaron Greyeyes
Spencer Kennedy
Holden Knights
(PHOTO: The Ice Wolves at practice Thursday. Photo courtesy of Braden Malsbury.)