After a shortened season due to Covid-19, Austin Clyne came to Neepawa and took on the captaincy role. Bad luck would strike our captain as just 7 games in he would leave with a broken wrist. Coming back from injury though, he has taken his game to another level. Averaging 25 minutes a game and achieving 19 points in 22 games, the twenty year old Dman is relied upon in all situations and is a major part of our team’s success.
“Personally, I had a tough start to the season only playing a handful of games before Christmas. But while I was out we had a couple of young guys step up and play a big role. For the majority of the season, we have been hanging around with Swan Valley and Virden. All fighting for a playoff spot, which makes every game important to keep pace and fight our way in. But we have a great group of guys who are all close, and playing in the postseason is something we all want for each other.” says Clyne
The Neepawa Titans will be looking to build off of a weekend where they got three out of four points when they host the OCN Blizzard for a pair of games.
Austin had this to say about our play last weekend.
“I thought we played well in both games this weekend, the overtime loss is definitely one we wish we could have back, but we played hard and are definitely making the right improvements heading into the last month of the year.”
Special Teams have played a major role in the outcomes of games. With a consistent power play amongst the league’s best, the penalty kill has been an area of concern. After a three game stretch where the Titans have killed off six of seven penalties, they will be looking to continue that momentum into this weekend.
“I think our PK played a big factor in the outcome of both games. It’s something we’ve worked on all year, so to see it start clicking is really exciting.” said Austin
The Titans and Blizzard haven’t played each other since November 6th. In that game OCN won in a shootout and extended their season series over the Titans to 3-1-0.
“With OCN I think we can expect to see some more physicality between us, so I think discipline will be big. They have some guys who can score so the more we keep them off the man advantage the better.” says Clyne
Neepawa;
Goals: Lapointe (20)
Assists: Wilton (30)
Points: Wilton (42)
OCN;
Goals: Sardelli (24)
Assists: Sardelli/Macdonald (18)
Points: Sardelli (42)
Puck drops for both games will be at 7:30. There will be no capacity restrictions and if you are unable to make it you can stream the game on HockeyTV.