Hawks open SJHL regular season on the road in Flin Flon
It’s opening night of the 2024-25 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season with the Nipawin Hawks travelling to Flin Flon to meet the Bombers.
Nipawin was ninth in the SJHL standings a season ago and miss the playoffs by four points. The goal is getting back to the postseason, but the club will have to accomplish that goal with just six returning players and one 20-year-old. Head Coach and General Manager Tad Kozun admits the team is young, but he said that’s an exciting factor going into the season.
“We’re really happy with where we are at, we know we are going to be young,” he said following the preseason. “Six returning players is obviously very, very low for most teams in our league so we’re looking for the young guys to step up and take those steps and jump into high pressure roles off the start and see which guys can handle that.”
Tyson Endall returns in goal, Henry Smith is the lone 2004 born player on defence, plus hometown sniper Finley Radloff, Eric Hoiness, Mark Lafleur, and Mason Karakochuk are the core players coming back up front. The team also acquired 19-year-old forward Carter Anderson from the Calgary Canucks, the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) champions last year. Kozun expects him to help lead the young group with his national championship experience.