Terriers Staying Put in Yorkton

The Yorkton Terriers had high hopes of making a serious playoff push and making the final 8.

Ultimately, that hope has been dashed. A 5-2 loss to the Nipawin Hawks earlier this week officially eliminated Yorkton from playoff contention. The team will now wrap up their season with a home-and-home next weekend against the Melville Millionaires.

Sitting at 21-29-2-2, Yorkton has played excellent hockey at times this year which includes wins against the league's top teams including Battlefords; however, the club has been very inconsistent which has resulted in them coming up short of their playoff aspirations.

The biggest thing on many minds as of late was would the Terriers even be back in the 2024-25 season. The team announced in January that they were in serious trouble when it came to funds and they would be unable to continue operations unless things changed drastically. Now as the team's season comes to an end, it appears as if all is good in Yorkton.

Corvyn Neufeld is the team's president and he has confirmed that the team will return next year thanks to some incredible support from near and far.

"We made the announcement the other day that the team will be back next year for sure," said Neufeld. "Our season ticket blitz was very successful, we sold 931 season tickets which is up quite a bit from our current season ticket total of 162. Our community and other communities stepped up in a big way to assure we can continue operations."

When the Battlefords North Stars were in town late last month they even bought a pair of season tickets and decided to donate them back to the club so they could give them to someone who wouldn't be able to attend games otherwise.

"There are so many stories, really neat stuff," said Neufeld. "Minor hockey teams have donated the proceeds of their 50/50 to us. Former players, families of players, there are just so many stories, it's pretty incredible."

While the team's blowout prices have come to an end when it comes to season tickets, you can still secure yours at an early bird price. An adult season ticket is $300.

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SJHL Scoop:

The Flin Flon Bombers have already locked up home-ice advantage for the entirety of their playoff run. With 42 wins in 52 contests this year, the Bombers are 12 points up on Melfort and will finish first overall as they will be crowned regular-season champions; however, they have hit a rough patch.

Including a 3-1 loss to Melfort over the weekend, Flin Flon has lost five of their last seven games. They will wrap up the season with two more games at the Whitney Forum before wrapping up the regular season campaign on the road for a pair of games against Humboldt. Making the league final in four of the last six seasons, the Bombers will not only look to make it happen again, but they will look to get over the hump this year to win their first championship since 1993. Don't expect the Bombers rough patch to last long, this team is far too deep for that to happen.

With Yorkton eliminated from playoff contention and Nipawin holding onto one last string, the most likely scenario is Kindersley and Estevan battling to jump into seventh. The team that doesn't will face Flin Flon in the first round. With that said, either Kindersley or Estevan are likely okay with heading up north for round one. The Klippers recently beat Flin Flon and Estevan also recently beat them. The Bruins and Bombers have played in the last two playoff years.

The battle for second overall continues with Melfort (36-14-3) currently occupying that spot. They're four points ahead of Battlefords (North Stars do have a game in hand) and five points ahead of Humboldt (Broncos have two games in hand).

The Melville Millionaires and Weyburn Red Wings will battle for fifth spot overall heading into the big dance. The Mills' are currently three points ahead of Weyburn and both teams have played 51 games. The Red Wings have won eight of their last 10 games while the Millionaires have won seven of their last 10.

Playoff Matchups if they were to begin March 7, 2024:

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