Outlaws keep chugging along at provincials

“Both teams we’ve played have been great hockey teams that have pushed us to the brink and that’s what we wanted going in,” Keller said of their series with Meadow Lake and Waldheim, which both went the distance. “We wanted to be pushed just to see what we had because the last few years we didn’t feel like we were getting that. We were winning games pretty easily and really what we wanted was teams that were going to… bring out the best in us. Both Meadow Lake and Waldheim definitely did that.”

Last year, Wilkie won the ‘B’ provincial, and the year before, they won the ‘C’ provincial.

In each of their best 2-of-3 series this time around, Wilkie lost game one, but rebounded to win game three by four goals.

The score in game three in round versus Meadow Lake was 4-0, while the score in game three against Waldheim was 7-3.

“We had our back against the wall right off the get go and you saw our team take it to another level,” Keller said. “I’ve been really impressed with the guys and their response to being in that situation because, to be honest, we weren’t real sure what we were going to get when that happened because it just hasn’t happened to us too much over the last few years. So I’ve been really impressed with the guys’…approach to the do or die games.”

The Outlaws are currently playing the Kindersley Red Lions in the semifinal of the SaskWest playoffs and are up two games to none.

It just so happens that the Red Lions will also be playing Wilkie in round three of the provincials.

The tricky thing is Kindersley’s provincial team is quite different than their league team that has been outscored 18-6 by Wilkie in the two semifinal league playoff games.

The Red Lions have seven additions on their provincial squad, including a dangerous trio of Jeremy Boyer, Bret Peppler, and Jorden Braid, who combined for 109 points in 53 games for the Kerrobert Tigers in the SaskWest regular season.

All three played in the Southern Professional Hockey League at one point in their career.

“You add half a dozen guys to a hockey team [and] it makes a world of difference. We’re expecting their provincial team to gives us all we can handle,” Keller said. “I think they’ll probably see a better team out of us just from a standpoint of being more ready to go. We’ll come with the same approach. We try to keep our game pretty simple. We’re not the most skilled team in the world but we play a good structure and we all play hard.”

The Outlaws team is also filled with former North Stars.

Keller and his brother Ryne both played for them, as did Rory Gregoire, Brock Harrison, Brett Harrison, Will Rathje, Rick Cey, and Barrett Penner.

“We’re just a team that’s got a lot of speed,” Keller said. “We look to use our speed by getting in on the forecheck [and] having good back pressure. We like to limit the other team’s time and space. So whether that’s by stick checking or taking the body, whichever is going to serve us better in that specific situation is typically what we do.”

The schedule for round three has not been released yet but it must wrap up by March 13.

Game three for the Outlaws league playoff game against Kindersley is Tuesday, Feb. 28 in Wilkie at 8:30 p.m.

Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

@NathanKanter11

by Nathan Kanter

Outlaws keep chugging along at provincials

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