Yellowhead Chiefs topple top team in MMHL
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- Published on Thursday, December 24, 2015
By Eoin Devereux
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The Yellowhead AAA Chiefs are heading into the holiday break with a pair of important wins in their stockings. The team outlasted the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League’s top team, the Eastman Selects on Friday, Dec. 18, 6-5 in overtime. They followed that up with a solid 3-0 road victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Sunday, Dec. 20. Along with these most recent wins, Yellowhead has claimed six of their last seven league games and are within striking distance of the second place Winnipeg Wild in the standings.
The first game of the weekend saw the Eastman Selects visiting the Shoal Lake Communiplex. The Selects came into the game with a 27-0-1 record, so Yellowhead knew they’d be facing a massive challenge for their final home game of 2015. The players were up for that challenge however, taking home a well-deserved overtime win.
Mackenzie Belinski ended the night with a hat-trick, with his third and final goal being the game winner. Noah Geekie contributed three points (2-1), while Brody Smith added a goal. Reece Jones earned the win in net for Yellowhead, stopping 29 of the 34 shots he faced.
On Sunday Dec. 20, the Chiefs hit the road to Brandon to take on the AAA Wheat Kings. It would be the road team that left the ice victorious, as Yellowhead blanked Brandon. During the game, Blake Mervyn scored his first goal of the season, while Dayton Heino notched a pair for the Chiefs. Riley Lamb was solid between the pipes for Yellowhead, registering a 29 save performance, good enough for his 15th victory of the regular season.
The Yellowhead Chiefs will head into 2016 with a record of 19-5-3 and 41 points. They’re five points back of the Winnipeg Wild for second place in the league standing and 15 back of Eastman.
The first game of the new year for Yellowhead will be on Saturday, Jan. 2, when they take on the Wild at the MTS Iceplex in Winnipeg. After that, they play two more road games, before returning home to Shoal Lake for a matchup with the Pembina Valley Hawks on Sunday, Jan. 10. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 pm.
