Timberwolves captain Seth Otterson shows off a smile during his last U18 regular season game on Mar. 2, 2024. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Ending on a high note

Timberwolves thump North East in regular season finale, look ahead to playoffs

Mar 2, 2024 | 6:07 PM

The Lake Country Timberwolves wrapped up their regular season on Saturday afternoon.

The T-Wolves put on a dominant showing for their fans at the Art Hauser Centre by downing the North East Wolfpack 7-1 in the regular season closer.

The win was the fourth in a row for the club and also helped them overtake the Saskatoon Crunch in the standings to clinch second place in the CENTRE FOUR (north) standings.

Lake Country’s head coach Derek Simonson reflected on the win and said it was a good launchpad to jump into the postseason.

“North East was fighting for a playoff spot so we knew that it was going to be a playoff type game and it was for the first part. We took advantage of a powerplay that got us ahead and took the wind out of their sails and from there, we were able to finish off the game the right way – continued good habits and playing well going into the playoffs.”

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Looking back at last season, the Timberwolves, then called the Prince Albert Vulcans, finished atop the north standings with a 26-4-2-1 (W-L-T-OTL) record while this season they managed a 24-8-0-1 record finishing only behind the Saskatoon Riverkings.

Although the Timberwolves don’t have their first playoff series set in stone, Simonson took some time to look back at the regular season and called it a huge success.

“To start out the season, we didn’t know exactly how we were going to be. To match what we did last year while losing 10 veterans, we knew it was going to be a tough feat to get close to where we were last year and I made it known to the guys that with the success we had last year, we came within six points of that this year and that goes to the kids’ work ethic. At the start of the season, we had a heck of a lot of first year kids and to be in this position, second in the north, is a great accomplishment.”

From losing 10 players last season, Lake Country had just three graduating players this season in assistant captains Kaden Petit and Liam Flett along with captain Seth Otterson.

The graduating players from the Timberwolves this season (left to right), Kaden Petit, Seth Otterson, and Liam Flett.

Simonson took some time to speak about the graduating class and praised them for their hard work and commitment to the team.

“They’ve been absolutely tremendous all year. They’ve been great leaders on and off the ice and it’s nice for them that we’re hopefully going to have a nice long run into the playoffs and to finish off their U18 career in the right way.”

Following the season and their graduation from high school in June, Flett will be heading west to join UBC’s College of Engineering in the fall, Otterson will stick close to home and attend the College of Engineering at the U of S, and Petit will be taking the year off to think more before choosing a career path.

The regular season in the Sask. U18 AA Hockey League (SU18AAHL) is set to wrap up next weekend.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com