Neepawa Natives season comes to a close
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- Published on Friday, March 6, 2015
The Neepawa Natives give a salute to the fans after the final game of the regular season. Photo by Eoin Devereux
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner
The Neepawa Natives head into the off-season with a lot of questions to answer after a disappointing 2014-2015 season.
The team closed out its regular season on Tuesday, Mar. 3 at the Yellowhead Arena with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Swan Valley Stampeders.
The game was extremely well played by both clubs, and showed just how close Neepawa could be to being a playoff team. In the end however, the Stampeders were able to take advantage of an opportunity just 41 seconds into the extra period to secure the victory.
Stephen Mather and Steven Phillips each scored for the Natives during the game, while Jordan Martin, Jake Schultz and Griffin Chwaliboga all contributed assists during the evening.
With the overtime loss to Swan Valley and a 5-0 loss against the Steinbach Pistons on Sunday, Mar. 1, Neepawa closes out the 60 game schedule with a record of 15-42-3, that’s one win better than their 2013-2014 season.
After the game, Neepawa coach Dwayne Kirkup reflected on the year. Kirkup said that while things did not turn out as they’d hoped, he remained very optimistic about the young core of talented players that’ll return next season.
“The record doesn’t suggest it, but I think we are going in the right direction. There were about 20, or so, one goal games this season. A bounce here or there in our favour, could have changed the entire outlook on the year,” said Kirkup. “We’re all disappointed. We wanted to make the playoffs so badly. The month of December wasn’t kind to us. We had lots of injuries and it really put us behind the pack. But when we were healthy, we were able to complete against any other club on any given evening.”
Meanwhile, Kirkup’s coaching contract will expire at the end of the month. He said he’s not really focusing on that right now, as he prefers to look towards the spring camp, scheduled for Mar. 27-29.
“As far as my contract, it’s done at the end of March. It’s out of my hands,” said Kirkup. “The board of the Neepawa Natives has to decide what’s best for the team moving forward. Whether it’s renewing my contract or going in a different direction.”
As for the playoffs, in the survivor series round, the seventh ranked Selkirk Steelers will play the tenth seeded OCN Blizzard. The other best of three matchup involves the eighth ranked Waywayseecappo Wolverines playing the ninth seeded Dauphin Kings. The winners move on through to best-of-seven series.
