Ron Valentine is profiling the 10 teams competing in the 2024 Centennial Cup, the national Jr. A championship tournament, in Oakville May 9-19.
BY RON VALENTINE
The Melfort Mustangs, ranked 11th by the Canadian Junior Hockey League, got past the second-ranked Flin Flon Bombers in six games to capture the Canterra Seeds Cup and the right to represent the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League at the 2024 Centennial Cup.
In earlier playoff rounds, the Mustangs dispatched the Estevan Bruins from the Viterra division 4-1 and the Humboldt Broncos, who finished first in the Nutrien Division, 4-3 in a very close series – two overtime games plus one that went to double and one to triple OT.
In the regular campaign in the four-team Sherwood Division, the Mustangs ended in second spot with 80 points, 11 behind the Bombers. They scored 218 goals and conceded 158.
They finished on a hot streak winning nine of their last 10 games. The club won 22 of 28 home games. Their games with Flin Flon, the only team from Manitoba in the league, ended up at three wins apiece. The SJHL consists of 12 teams in three divisions.
The club plays out of the Northern Lights Palace, which can hold around 1,850 seated for hockey plus standing room. In 1996 Melfort hosted the national championships, then known as the Royal Bank Cup, with the Mustangs losing 2-0 in the final. Melfort is located about 100 miles north of Saskatoon and has a population of around 6,000 people making it the 13th biggest location in the province.
AIDYN HUTCHINSON, from St. Albert, SK led regular season scorers with 33 goals and 78 points and 167 minutes in penalties. CLAY SLEEVA came to the club from the Yorkton Terriers mid-season and ended with 59 points overall. Blueliner CHASE FRIEDT-MOHR had 56 and RYAN DUGUAY 52. JAMES VENNE, in his third year with the team, shouldered most of the workload in the net and ended with a 2.62 goals against average.
In the postseason it was Hutchinson leading the way again with 15 goals and 31 points. Friedt-Mohr had 23 points and was voted the playoff MVP and Duguay 21 points including 13 goals, four of which were game winners. Sleeva rounded out their top four point scorers with 19. Venne played all 18 playoff games and posted a GAA of 2.50.
The head coach/general manager is TREVOR BLEVINS. He is the 10th head coach in the history of the Mustangs. He took that post in 2013 and added the GM title in 2020. Born in Melfort, he played for the Mustangs from 1993 to 1996.
TYE SCHERGER is in his first season as assistant coach of the club and played for the Mustangs as well as the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlies.
Trevor’s ready to rock and roll. He loves to talk about his players: “I have to give a lot of credit to Flin Flon in our playoff final. We had the better of them early but they came back and made it a great contest. I have had great support from Tye, He relates to the players really well and we work well as a team. We have a team that plays physical hockey but one that also skates very well. In our series against Humboldt we were down a goal with a minute and a half to go and still got it done.”
“We had a real battle this season, losing over 180 man hours to injuries to our key players. Our team chemistry has been a real plus and we have brought in experienced mature hockey players. We got Freidt-Mohr, who had lots of experience in the Western Hockey League. He got the opportunity to play an offensive role for us but is really strong defensively. Hutchinson is your prototypical power forward, he had some injury problems but has come back stronger than ever.
“Venne, in net, was acquired as a 17-year-old, played over 30 games in his first season and now in Year 3 he is our go-to guy. Sleeva came to us at the deadline. He just plays the right way. He’s a character guy. When there were a lot of nerves early on our bench in our final game he pulled everyone through. Duguay is a second-year guy with us. He bounced around a bit in the AJHL but he’s a hard-working, in-your-face kind of guy who has grown as a player who can score the big goal and he has forced everyone around him to be better.”
Melfort will face Miramichi from the Maritime Junior Hockey League Thursday at 7.30 p.m.
For more information on the Centennial Cup, click here: https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/national-championships/men/national-junior-a/2024
Follow Ron Valentine on X @ronandlynda
