(Photo credit: SJHL/Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

Another championship

Mustangs win back-to-back SJHL Titles

Apr 28, 2025 | 10:26 AM

A dynasty is in the making as the Melfort Mustangs are back-to-back Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Champions.

Melfort defeated the Weyburn Red Wings in five games to claim the Canterra Seeds Cup, culminating with a 3-0 win Sunday night at the Northern Lights Palace.

“It’s not easy to win back-to-back, and I don’t think anyone picked us at the start of the year to win. Our players had that target on their backs as defending champs all year, and they took it and ran with it, and they really relished in it,” said Mustangs’ head coach Trevor Blevins. “What a special group this year. I’m not the easiest coach to play for, and we demand a lot, so the players deserve the credit for putting the work in. They did a fantastic job all year, bought in, played the right way from start to finish, and just from our leadership group all the way down, everyone was a family right away, and they had a brotherhood, so it was just fantastic.”

The Mustangs are the first SJHL team to win two titles in a row since they did it themselves back in 2015 and 2016. According to Blevins, the thought of winning wasn’t on the team’s mind ahead of Game 5, but rather the process of playing well.

“We talked the whole time about staying in the present, not getting ahead of ourselves, and making sure we don’t look too far ahead, or we don’t look at the past. We just executed the five seconds in front of our faces, which was the most important, and the guys bought into that today, and really were focused and dialled in, just like we have been all year.”

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The 3-0 victory was the third shutout win of the championship series for Melfort, as they allowed just three goals total in the five games. While Blevins told northeastNOW the defensive effort was great, he said it didn’t take away from their offensive game.

“I think you need all 200 feet to win championships. I’m not one to sacrifice offence for defence or vice versa, and when it’s time to go, we play the right way on the offensive side. When you turn a puck over, it’s time to defend, this group bought in, and they were responsible for 200 feet, so I don’t feel you have to say one or the other is more important, I think you got to have it all, and we did. Our game was so complete, and again, it’s a buy-in from them, it was so easy to coach this group, it’s a lot of fun, and I’m just so proud of them and what they’ve done this year.”

Captain Ty Thornton was named this year’s Playoff MVP. In 14 games, he had eight points and led the Stangs’ D to give up just 19 goals total in those games.

Another big factor in that was goaltender Kristian Coombs, who posted a 10-1-1 record, a 1.33 goals-against-average and a .942 save-percentage, to go along with four shutouts. Coombs stopped 104 of the 106 shots that came his way in the Cup Round.

“He’s a guy that came out of nowhere last year, but his work ethic and his commitment are through the roof. He’s probably in as good a shape as I’ve ever seen a player in our organization ever, and that’s because of his work. He’s first on the ice and last off, does whatever he can to improve himself, he gets better every day, and he showed it.”

The Blue and Green will go to the Centennial Cup again this year, which will take place in Calgary, Alberta.

The National Championship will get underway on May 8th and run until May 18th.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8