Despite battling each and every night to turn things around as the 2013/14 Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League season nears the Christmas break, the Yorkton Harvest just can't seem to turn things around during what can now be classified as a lengthy winless streak after a strong start saw the team heading into November above the .500 mark.
Without a win in four games the Harvest went into a week where they would play the league best Notre Dame Argos on the road before facing another solid playoff team in the Moose Jaw Generals in two home games over the weekend, looking to turn things around the Harvest continued their hard luck and near misses to the dismay of head coach Dan Cross.
Playing the Argos midweek the Harvest would stick in the game with the Notre Dame academy team for much of the opening half of the game, going into the first intermission tied at 1-1 after a goal from their captain Corwin Stevely levelled things up. That would change in the second as two goals from Jordan Berger would put the Argos up 3-1 and turned all of the momentum in the hands of the hosts. Berger would score shorthanded in the opening half of the period by beating Carter Phair to make the score 2-1 before registering what was the turning point in the final minute of the period with a goal that came with just 53 seconds left in the second.
In the third penalties would once again doom the Harvest as the Argos scored two powerplay goals, both coming off on a four minute penalty to Tanner Jeannot for head contact. Their captain was also ejected from the game early in the third period after getting into a fight with the Argos' Evan Werle that ejected both players due to the SMAAAHL automatic game misconduct rule.
The penalties weren't the only problem as the Harvest were outshot 52-18 in the loss, a number that will kill you nearly every time.
Things were better for the Harvest on the weekend as the team regrouped from a lopsided loss to face the Moose Jaw Generals, but again the lack of offense continued even if the Harvest did tighten up on giving up chances of their own.
Saturday night saw the Harvest lose the first game of the Saturday/Sunday series which are the norm in the Midget AAA league. The Generals would take the lead with a fast start and never look back from a two goal lead started by goals from Trey Tendler and Jared Dmytriw that proved to be the difference.
Yorkton would get back into the game with a special teams goal on the powerplay before the second intermission as Korwin Shewchuk scored his fourth of the season to put the Harvest within a goal. Despite not being able to beat Generals Colby Entz in the third period to tie things up in what went down as a 2-1 loss, Cross took the moral victory that came with a powerplay goal, an important one from a team that has been struggling mightily to score.
"We have been working on special teams situations due to our inability to score goals and we have been preaching making the most of our chances so it was nice to see a powerplay goal even though it didn't translate into getting things fully going for us," says Cross.
The tight 2-1 affair would set the tone for Sunday's matinee to close out the two game set, with Carter Phair back in net after Carson Bogdan's 22 save performance the following night the good goaltending and low scoring trend continued, even if Phair had to leave the game after taking a puck to the chin under the mask, forcing Bogdan into spot duty for one save.
This time it would be the Harvest striking first, going ahead on a goal from Stevely to make it 1-0 heading into the second period.
In the second period the penalty bug would continue to bite the Harvest as the team would give up five penalties in the second period, allowing the Generals to score twice on the man advantage to make it 2-1 after 40 minutes and making a wash of the strong start for the Harvest thanks to a lack of discipline and a quick whistle from the officials calling the game.
With a sense of urgency and a deep want to put their winless streak behind them, the Harvest quickly found their tying goal early in the period once again on the powerplay as Tanner Jeannot found the back of the net to make it 2-2.
A tense third period followed, with the Harvest having to kill off a penalty late in the period thanks to a ticky tack penalty on Jaden Kreklewich after being pushed into the Generals crease before getting nabbed on goaltender interference preventing them from finding a winning goal before overtime.
In the four on four session, the Harvest continued to push, making several attempts on goal while outshooting the Generals 6-0, but once again penalties would cost the Harvest a chance to end their win as the two Generals powerplay goals were just enough to get them a 2-2 tie and three out of a potential four points on the weekend. Coach Cross wasn't happy with tying, but noted that his team worked hard to get a win at home especially on the defensive end.
"I will probably never say I am happy with anything other than two points after a game, but to allow just four goals only to score three the whole weekend kind of tells the tale of the way things have been going, we just seem to be squeezing the sticks to tight or something because we can't seem to find that one break to get back on track," says Cross.
The Harvest will get three chances to end that winless streak before Christmas, two of those games will be one the road before hosting Tisdale December 18 at the FAA. For now the Harvest will have to settle for the solace that despite their winless streak they are still seven points clear of missing the playoffs. With several ties in the streak, it isn't time to panic yet.
