Sheridan Hawks Junior Hockey Team Preparing For First Round Playoff Series Vs. Rapid City

It’s playoff time in Junior Hockey.

The Sheridan Hawks play on the road on Wednesday (March 11th) in Game 1 of their best-of-3 NA3HL Frontier Division first round playoff series against Rapid City.

The puck drops at 7:05pm.

The Hawks and Sabres split the regular season series 3-3 and haven’t played each other since early December.

Sheridan Head Coach J.J. Santagata says a lot has changed between then and now and fans should expect a lot of full strength hockey.

“They play structured, they’re not going to quit, they’re relentless so, it’s not going to come down to who’s the better team, it’s going to come down to who works harder, who’s going to win the little corner battles, who’s going to be detail oriented, so it’s a team that you’re playing, very disciplined team. They’re the lowest penalized team in the division and they average maybe 2 penalties a game, so we have to play that game 5-on-5 and stay out of the box.”

Game 2 will be played in Sheridan on Friday, starting at 7:30pm, and if needed, Game 3 will be played in Sheridan, also starting at 7:30pm.

Weekend Recap: (Courtesy: Sheridan Hawks)

The Hawks faced off against the Yellowstone Quake on home ice this weekend and came away top team in the Frontier Division for the regular season, two points ahead of 2nd place Helena, ensuring home ice advantage for the division playoffs.

On Friday night, the Hawks earned a dominant 6-0 victory.

The scoring began just five minutes into the game when Kiefer Dunham opened it up for Sheridan, assisted by Tim Vaculik and Danny Shelden. 

The Hawks then added two more goals in the first period, one from Max Krueger with help from Vincent Leaf and Deagan Watson,  and the other from Zachary Marsell, assisted by Sean Harris and Shelden,  to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

The second period remained scoreless as both teams battled to a stalemate.

In the third though, Dunham struck again on the power play with just under six minutes left to play (assists from Leaf and Easton Langemo). 

To top off the win, Sheridan would tack on two more goals before the final buzzer, both coming from Daniel Shelden, the first assisted by Caden Gleason and Harris, the second by Dunham and Kyle Rihela, to seal the deal. 

Wyatt Knott was in net for the shut out, stopping 21 shots.

On Saturday, the Hawks looked to add another tally to the win column after defeating the Quake the previous night, and with the victory would secure the #1 seed in the Frontier Division heading into the playoffs.

Sheridan got on the board late in the first period as Jameson Clark struck with just six seconds remaining to give the Hawks the early lead.

He was assisted by Elijah White and Leaf. 

In the second, the Hawks pulled away with two more goals from Dante Hunziker (assist Langemo) and Ernie Allen (assist Harris), extending the lead to 3–0.

The Quake spoiled the shutout just 15 seconds into the third period when Dean Schlarman found the back of the net, making it 3–1.

Sheridan quickly regained control, however, adding two more goals, one from Jeff Slivon, assists by Hunziker and Harris, and the second from Clark, assists by Langemo and Leaf, to finalize the 5–1 victory.

In net, Otto Reinhart was stellar, stopping 28 of 29 shots for a .966 save percentage.

The Hawks will take on the 4th place Badlands in the first round of the Frontier Division playoffs, to begin Wednesday night in Rapid City. 

The Hawks will then play the Sabres at home on Friday night for game two of the first round, and at home again, if needed, on Saturday night.

In other news, the Hawks announced on Friday night during the 1st intermission that they will be retiring Kiefer Dunham’s jersey number 13. 

Dunham, a Sheridan native, has been a member of the team for 5 season, completing his entire junior hockey career with the Hawks. 

From one of the youngest rookie players in team history, Dunham showed grit and determination and exemplary leadership, working his way to being named Assistant Captain in the 2023-24 season, and then moving up to Captain that year and remaining team Captain for the next two seasons as well.