The Senior C provincial champion, WIlkie Outlaws. (Submitted photo/Wilkie Outlaws)

By Martin Martinson

On top of the World

Wilkie Outlaws take Senior C provincial championship

Apr 2, 2024 | 5:12 AM

For the first time since 2019, the Wilkie Outlaws senior hockey team is on top of the world as provincial champions.

Serving as the team’s fifth provincial title in the last 11 years, this 2024 championship comes at the Senior C level, which the club also won in 2014 and 2015, prior to moving up to Senior B to win two more titles in 2016 and 2019.

The Outlaws swept all four rounds of best-of-three series action on their way to the championship, beating the Porcupine Plain Blues, Biggar Nationals, and Dinsmore Dynamos in two straight through the opening three rounds, on their way to back-to-back 7-4 and 3-0 victories in the finals over the Kyle Elks to claim the Senior C title.

Veteran forward, Rick Cey, who was named Player of the Game following the clinching 3-0 win over Kyle, with an assist on the second goal, said it was special to be able to close things out and take the championship on home ice, in Wilkie.

“It was a lot of hard work, but it was a lot of fun to be able to do it for each other in that last game against Kyle, and to be able to do so and celebrate with all the guys and all our families there in Wilkie,” Cey said. “It really is a brotherhood [within the team], and you see them as much as you see your family pretty much in the wintertime, so I think it makes it easier to put forth a good effort when you have good buddies and good teammates like that on your team.”

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The Wilkie Outlaws 35+ contingent pictured L-R: Mike Sittler, Curtis Sander, Ryan Keller, Rory Gregoire, Will Rathje, Brock Harrison, Rick Cey, Derek Keller. (Submitted photo/Mike Sittler)

Coming just days after the team fell to the Kindersley Sr. Klippers in the fifth-and-deciding game of their Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) Finals series – losing the final two games in overtime – coach and longtime defenceman with the Outlaws, Derek Keller said it meant a lot to see the group bounce back quickly.

“To sort of pick ourselves up off the mat and show up Friday and play the way that we did, I was just proud of the guys for their resilience and their character,” Keller said. “It’s funny, when you’re winning lots, and we’ve had some success over the years, sometimes you take it for granted and I think that loss to Kindersley kind of put things into perspective a bit for the guys and made us realize we’ve got to show up and put the work in. There’s nothing but good teams you’re playing this time of year, and it took everything we had to win.”

Fellow Outlaws veteran, Mike Sittler said the team’s veteran know-how played a pivotal role in their ability to stay even-keeled and refocus quickly.

“We’ve got an older group with lots of experience; we’ve all been there before, and we know what it takes to win, so all through provincials we came to play each and every night and we were successful because of that,” Sittler said.

“We ran into some tough teams from the Sask Valley League [in Kyle and Dinsmore], and we don’t usually get an opportunity to play them very often, so it’s fun when we do and we were able to come out on top, so I’m glad it ended the way it did,. It’s nice to finish the season with a win and a big provincial C championship. The whole provincial run was a lot of fun for us, and we’ve got an older group, so it’s nice to get one more championship.”

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

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