Senior Klippers fall to Drake Canucks in Senior A Provincials

Just firing up their provincial schedule last Saturday night at the Drake Sportsplex, the Kindersley Senior Klippers run in the Senior A hockey bracket has already come to an end after a 4-1 loss last night against a very good Drake Canucks team.

Senior hockey prognosticators were eagerly awaiting the opening round heavyweight series. Drake came out as last year's champions in Senior A, and the Senior Klippers nearly won the Senior B banner after three exciting games against the Outlook Ice Hawks in the 2022 final; leaving this Best of 3 series sweep a major surprise to those who paid attention.

According to the senior provincials bracket challenge put out by the Monday Nooner podcast, over 70% of respondents had Kindersley moving past Drake in the first round. 

The West Central Events Centre was filled to the brim last night as the Senior Klippers were on the brink of elimination

Needing a win last night after dropping the first game of the series 3-2 in double overtime, things didn't get off to a great start for the hometown Klippers. Goalie Travis Child let in a tough one to let momentum slip early, though Kindersley would tie it up before the end of the first period to head into the break feeling good.

The Klippers would relinquish that momentum again in the second, as two goals before the ten-minute mark put them down 3-1, and it would stay that way into the intermission.

Kindersley came out firing in the third as Drake's goalie was gasping for air all night in the crease while stopping 41/42 shots in front of the Klippers faithful. A few good chances along with some powerplay time did give the home-side a chance to make it a game in the third, but the defending champion Canucks would maintain their lead and escape unscathed against a Kindersley team that will be wondering what went wrong.

Drake moves on, as the winner of this series was definitely going to be one of the favourites moving forward in Senior A (Photo by Aaron Harle)

Despite finishing in a sweep, the series was still a thriller with both teams fighting tooth and nail until the end.

Drake now awaits the winner of the LeRoy/Hafford series, and as for the Sr. Klippers, they will have a quick turnaround back into Sask West Hockey playoffs as they are also on the brink of elimination against Macklin in the semi-finals.