The Nipawin Hawks faced off against the Notre Dame Hounds Sunday afternoon in Wilcox, a game Notre Dame won 4-3. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Long Road Home

Hawks head home after loss to Notre Dame

Oct 23, 2023 | 12:01 PM

The Nipawin Hawks concluded a three-game road trip Sunday afternoon in Wilcox losing 4-3 to the Notre Dame Hounds.

Nipawin won just once on the weekend, in large part due to sluggish starts and going down in games. The Hawks did lead Friday in Weyburn before falling 6-2 to the Red Wings. Estevan took a lead into Saturday’s game where the Hawks managed to tie the game late before winning in a shootout.

On Sunday Notre Dame took a 3-1 lead into the final period, the Hawks clawed back to tie the game at 3-3, but the Hounds chipped in a rebound late to win 4-3. Nipawin Captain Maguire Ratzlaff said the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) club wasn’t ready at the start of each night.

“We played great third periods, but that’s not going to win us games,” Ratzalff said. “We can’t play 20 minutes; we need to learn how to play 60 minutes.”

Through 12 games the Hawks have six wins, five regulation losses and a shootout defeat. The team is tied for fifth in the SJHL standings through about a fifth of the campaign. Ratzlaff said he is confident in the group that needs to focus on themselves.

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“I think we’re really worried about what the other team is going to do. We’re a good team, we know that. We need to play our game; we need to stop anticipating what they’re going to do, and we just need to play our game. We need to play Hawks’ hockey,” he said.

Nipawin doesn’t have much time to dwell on the disappointing weekend with the top-ranked Flin Flon Bombers visiting Tuesday for the second time this season. The teams met on opening night with the Bombers winning 5-3. Ratzlaff said the matchup is a great Litmus Test for them.

“We had them at the start of the year, and then kind of like where we’re at now, we let our foot off the gas for five minutes in that game and they took it to us. They’re a great team, credit to them they brought in some great players, but I think we just need to learn to start on time and stick with it,” he concluded.

Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Centennial Arena.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork

by Clark Stork

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Hawks head home after loss to Notre Dame

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