KEYSTONE JUNIOR B HOCKEY LEAGUE
Another, Devon Garson, was tied for 3rd in
team playoff scoring with 12 points, while
Woodhouse had 10 points.
As Woodhouse points out, the Juniors
didn’t enjoy home-ice advantage in any of
their three series during the 2017 playoff
run. Peguis finished the regular season with
a 23-10-0-1 record and 47 points — one point
behind the Ice Dawgs and the Selkirk Fish-
ermen and two points behind St. Malo War-
riors, the league’s top point-getter during
the regular season.
Woodhouse says the fact that the Juniors
beat all three teams finishing ahead of them
in the standings made their KJHL title even
sweeter.
“We really worked hard for this champion-
ship this year and we gave it all we had,” he
said. “It was a phenomenal experience with
a hockey team that I call family.”
This was the fourth year playing for the
Juniors and the last season of KJHL eligibil-
ity for Woodhouse, who describes winning
back-to-back titles as “a phenomenal way”
to end his Junior B career. He hopes to play
with the Peguis Mohawks in North West Se-
nior Hockey League next season.
Penner, meanwhile, turned 21 earlier this
year, but is eligible for one more season of
Junior B hockey. He’s hoping it’ll be as a
member of the Peguis Juniors.
That’s in spite of the fact that Penner lives
more than 350 km away -- he’s studying to
become Phys Ed teacher at Brandon Univer-
sity -- and had to drive three and a half hours
each way to get to the team’s practices and
games this past season. However, Penner
says he isn’t fazed by the long commute, a
commute that would only happen in Mani-
toba.
“The driving got a little boring, but the
hockey never does,” he said. “I would love to
come back to Peguis and have a shot at a
three-peat with those guys.” n
2016-17 KEYSTONE JUNIOR B
HOCKEY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
BALDY NORTHCOTT TROPHY WINNERS
THE PEGUIS JUNIORS
1. Luke Penner
3. Taz McKay
4. Keesin Richard
7. Christian Cochrane
8. Theoren Spence
11. Romano Paul
13. Quinton Flett
14. Joshua Spence
15. Keifer Tacan
16. Waylon Nault
19. Devon Garson
20. Devun Groot
21. Evan Gisler-Klyne
22. Tristan Slater
23. Tyrome Spence-Blair
24. Coulson Nepinak
27. Dylan Stevenson
28. Ian Sutherland
33. Dray Flett (G)
55. Tyler Woodhouse
71. Storm Swan
key to the Juniors game plan.
“We have a lot of speed,” he said. “We can
back off a lot of defenses, which gives us an
opportunity to gain the zone more easily.”
Another important aspect of the Peguis
game plan was good defensive play. Monk-
man said his players did a great job of tight-
ening up defensively and also learning how
to win close games during the latter part of
the season -- a big reason for the Juniors’
success in the playoffs.
In fact, this commitment to defence is re-
flected in Penner’s goaltending stats. With
a 4.53 goals against average and .891 save
percentage during the regular season, the
goalie’s numbers improved to a 3.16 goals
against average and a .924 save percentage
during the 17 games in which he started for
Peguis in the playoffs.
“I would always rather be a better playoff
performer than a regular season performer,
because that’s when it all counts,” Penner
said. “One thing that I always really focus on
is making sure I’m doing everything in my
power before a game to make sure I’m not
going to be the reason why we lose tonight. I
want to be the reason why we win.”
According to Monkman, half of the Peguis
team were first-year players aged 17 and 18.
“It was a young team this year but the rook-
ies really stepped up,” he says.
Monkman also credited the team’s four
21-year-old holdovers from last season as
playing a huge role in the Junior’s champi-
onship victory this year.
Two of the 21-year-olds, Theoren Spence
and Waylon Neault, lead the team in playoff
scoring with 21 and 18 points respectively.
THE JUNIORS
24 GAME ON
2017 CHAMPIONS EDITION