This marks the fifth straight season the Wilkie Outlaws and Macklin Mohawks have met in the SWHL playoffs, having faced off in the last four league finals, reigniting one of senior hockey's best rivalries. (Facebook/Macklin Sr. Mohawks)

By Martin Martinson

Sask West Hockey League Playoffs

Wilkie Outlaws open SWHL semis with OT thriller over Macklin

Feb 21, 2024 | 5:42 PM

The second round of the Sask West Hockey League (SWHL) playoffs officially got underway Tuesday night, with the defending champion and top-seeded, Wilkie Outlaws taking home a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the fifth-seed, Macklin Mohawks to take a 1-0 lead in the teams’ best-of-five semi-final series.

Outlaws’ forward, Ryan Keller scored a pair of goals in the victory, tying the game in the first – and then again in the third – to force OT, before Kolton Baptiste delivered his team the winner just 2:45 into overtime on a solo rush down ice.

Coming off a bye in the opening round as the top seed overall, Tuesday’s game marked the Outlaws’ first league game in three-and-a-half weeks, since the end of the regular season back on Jan. 27.

Player/coach with the Outlaws, and Top Defenceman in the SWHL this season, Derek Keller said coming off the layoff, the team took a bit of time to really hit their stride against a strong Macklin team they know well from having met in the league finals each of the last four seasons, dating back to 2019.

“They’re a good team, they play hard, they’re physical, and we kind of know what we’re going to get from them, but coming off a little bit of a layoff, I’m not sure if the boys were really ready for that kind of compete and intensity Macklin brought in Game 1,” Keller said. “We know what they play like and we know how good they are, but in any case, they gave us all we could handle.”

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Keller said heading into the second game of the series the key will be finding their groove quickly, which begins with improved special teams’ play and increased intensity.

“Last night we gave up a couple of power play goals and our power play went 0-for-4, so we’re going to have to get better there, but then really I think it just comes down to competing,” Keller said.

“They outcompeted us last night, and if that continues to be the trend in the series we’re going to be in trouble, but if we can up our compete-level and match their intensity I think we’ll be okay. They’re a good young team, so we’ve got to make sure that we give them the respect they deserve and we show up ready to play.”

Game 2 of the series will be played Sunday (Feb 25) at Credit Union Legacy Centre in Macklin, with puck drop at 6 p.m.

Hafford Hawks (#3) versus Kindersley Sr. Klippers (#2)

The other semi-finals series, between the second-seeded Kindersley Sr. Klippers and third-seeded Hafford Hawks will open with Game 1 Thursday in Kindersley.

Hafford is coming off a 2-1 series victory in their best-of-three quarterfinals matchup with the Biggar Nationals, taking a decisive 6-2 victory in the third-and-deciding game, to advance to the final four.

Kindersley is coming off a 2-0 sweep of Unity in the opening round, holding the Unity Miners to just a single goal in the two games while outscoring them 12-1 with back-to-back 3-1 and 9-0 victories.

The Kindersley Senior Klippers and Hafford Hawks posted identical 10-8-0 records during the regular season. (Facebook/Kindersley Senior Klippers Hockey Club)

Head coach of the Hafford Hawks, Greg Grzybowski said the key for the team will be coming out with a strong effort in the opening game to set the tone on the road.

“They have home ice advantage so we go to their barn [to start], and they’re tough playing them down there in Kindersley,” he said, referencing the first two games of the season series which saw a shorthanded Hawks team fall 7-5 in late-Oct. and 6-1 in mid-Nov., before responding with a 6-1 win of their own, in December.

“They’re a good club, they’ve got a lot of cagy veterans and it’s going to be a tough series,” the Hawks’ bench-boss added.

The opening game of the best-of-five semi-final series between the Hawks and Sr. Klippers will be played Thursday (Feb 22) at Kindersley’s West Central Events Centre, with puck drop at 8:30 p.m.

The full SWHL playoff schedule as dates are finalized, can be found here.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @MartyMartyPxP1