Timberjaks assistant captain Theran Lysitza lines up for the draw against Carrot River on Feb. 16, 2024. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Year 2

Timberjaks leaning on experience in second PJHL season

Sep 15, 2024 | 8:00 AM

The Prince Albert Timberjaks are ready to rumble for their second season in the Prairie Junior Hockey League (PJHL).

The Jaks will play in two preseason games which is a home-and-home series with the Carrot River Outback Thunder. Game one is set for 3:00 p.m. Sunday in Carrot River, while game two will happen at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the Northern Regional Rec Centre in Buckland.

Timberjaks Head Coach Steph Corfmat said last years’ experience will be something that will help the team heading into this season.

“With the guys that we have coming back, we’ve got a lot more experience that going to help the younger guys where last year we were young and we really didn’t have many guys to kind of help the younger guys,” he said.

In their inaugural season last year, the Timberjaks started off on the wrong foot, beginning the season at 1-9-0 (W-L-OTL) through their first 10 games.

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Following the rough start, things started clicking and the Jaks managed to turn things around to clinch the franchise’s first playoff spot with a 14-25-1 record. In the postseason, P.A. managed to take the favourited Saskatoon Westleys to a series-deciding game three where, unfortunately, the Jaks fell 7-4.

After playing last season with mostly rookies at the Junior B level, Corfmat said they maybe have only a handful of first years on the roster this season.

“Everyone except maybe four or five guys played in the league before,” he explained. “Everybody else was a rookie, so this year we’re the other way where we’re going to have maybe five or six guys that are rookies, and the rest will be veterans. So with a year under their belt, I think things will be a lot better. They’ll know what to expect and know how to play.”

The PJHL regular season opener for the Timberjaks will be against Carrot River on Sept. 28 with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. at the Northern Regional Rec Centre.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com