After a delay of more than an hour and a change of venues after the first period, the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings and the Yorkton Terriers finished their game Tuesday night three hours and 31 minutes after it started. The Terriers would score two goals in the third period – one courtesy of the Zamboni door, to pick up a 2-1 victory. 

The game started at the Westland Insurance Arena in Yorkton, with the Terriers putting a lot of shots on goal, but not really controlling the pace of play. The two teams exchanged chances and skated to the dressing room after the opening 20 minutes tied 0-0. Little did they know, it would need an hour, and a move to the Kinsmen Arena in Yorkton, to finish the game. 

The Red Wings loaded up into the bus, fully dressed, and headed over to the rink for the second and third periods. After the delays, and the move, the teams were back in action at 9:45.  

In the smaller confines of the Kinsmen, Weyburn came out with a little bit extra, putting a lot of pressure on the Terriers. They would get a number of quality chances on Kael DePape, and eventually, captured the lead with 2:42 left in the period. 

Taking a feed from Austyn Hansen, Ethan Whillans skated into the offensive zone, kept the puck on his stick, split the defence and put a wrist shot past DePape for his first SJHL goal. The other assist on the go-ahead marker was credited to Graham Skinner.  

In the third period, the Terriers would be the ones to come out with the flurry of activity in the offensive zone. This would result in Kishaun Gervais putting the puck past Dazza Mitchell just 2:52 left in the period. Then, the quirks of the arena would play a factor in the game.  

A smaller arena used only for minor hockey, at the Kinsmen Arena the glass is shorter than what you would normally find in an SJHL rink, the seating is very limited, and there is mesh around the whole ice surface, with the exception of the benches. For many players, it would be similar to many of the rinks they grew up playing in. However, with it being a rink many wouldn’t have skated in for a number of years, they wouldn’t be familiar with how the boards would react to various bounces. 

One of those bounces happened at the 4:51 mark of the third. Yorkton’s Enrique Fontes wrapped the puck around the boards from the halfwall of the Weyburn zone. The puck stayed along the ice, right up against the boards, until it caught the Zamboni door. From there, it skipped out towards the Weyburn net and ricocheted into the twine off of Mitchell. This would give the Terriers the lead, which they held onto to secure the win. 

Mitchell's performance in the game, however, was more than just a fluke goal. The 17-year-old rookie turned aside 45 of the 47 shots he faced and kept up with the flurry of activity that would often end up in his crease, with the net coming off the moorings at least four times in the second period alone.

The Red Wings will now prepare for two challenging opponents on the weekend, with the La Ronge Ice Wolves coming to Crescent Point Place on Friday and the Flin Flon Bombers on Saturday.