The Hawks look to celebrate another home ice win Tuesday when the Kindersley Klippers travel to Nipawin for SJHL action. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Home Cooking

Hawks host Kindersley in lone game of the week

Feb 14, 2023 | 12:03 PM

The Hawks have had a gruelling schedule since the beginning of 2023, but Tuesday’s home date showdown with Kindersley is the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) teams’ lone game of the week.

Nipawin returned home Saturday after blanking the Weyburn Red Wings 2-0 to conclude a three-game road trip. Head Coach Tad Kozun was extremely proud of his team after the win, a victory you could argue is as big for the team since prior to COVID-19 in March 2020.

“I think that game was played like a playoff game,” Kozun said Tuesday after the Hawks’ pregame skate. “It was tight defensively, both teams had their chances, and in the end we knew it was going to be a greasy goal to go in and that’s exactly what won it.”

Braxton Buckberger scored his 20^th goal of the season to open the scoring and provide the game-winning goal. Nipawin added an empty net tally to cap the scoring.

Former Red Wing Jackson Fellner stole the show making 34 stops to shut out his former teammates, the 19-year-old Regina product’s second blanking of the year. Kozun said Damon Cunningham played well in a 2-1 loss to Estevan Friday but he felt Fellner would play well versus his former team.

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“We figured he’d have a big game and he obviously delivered on every end of that. It’s kudos to him, he just continues to keep rolling. Like you said it’s nice to have both goalies playing at the top of their games right now. It’s a hard decision to know who to put in the net right now,” Kozun said.

The Klippers and Hawks have met four times this season, Nipawin has three wins and two have come in extra time. Despite the 12th-place record for Kindersley, Kozun said the Hawks can’t look ahead to six days off and take the game lightly.

“You have to make sure to care of business; it doesn’t matter who you are playing, top, middle, bottom, it doesn’t matter. We have to be ready to go tonight and make sure we take care of business,” he concluded.

Cunningham will get the start in goal for Nipawin. The 18-year-old Sturgeon County, Alta. product has yet to start at the Centennial Arena. All four starts since he joined the team after the Christmas break has been on the road.

Face-off is 7 p.m.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork

by Clark Stork

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Hawks host Kindersley in lone game of the week

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