Clark, Titans seeking more consistency

No team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League has arguably had more ups and downs than the Neepawa Titans.

The Titans, who now sit in third place in the West Division with 25 points thanks to a 12-11-1 record, have found just about everything in their game but regularity, as they opened the season losing eight of their first 11, then won six of seven, dropped three straight, and then closed November with three wins in a row.

Neepawa was hoping to get off to a hot start following last season’s disappointments of losing in Round 1 to the eventual Turnbull Cup champion Northern Manitoba Blizzard in five games, but it’s rare that everything goes to plan. Second-year forward Jack Clark knows he and his team need to be better and believes their play as of late has been pointing in that direction.

“Honestly, I think we’ve been good,” Clark said on Tuesday. “Obviously, it’s not as strong a start as our team would’ve liked, but I really think we’re starting to get on a roll here with a couple of wins, and hopefully we can take a couple of wins this week and just keep rolling.”

Neepawa’s latest win came at the hands of the league-worst Winnipeg Monarchs, who they beat 7-2 at the hockey for all centre on Sunday night. Despite the five-goal difference, it was a highly contested battle right up until the dying moments of the second frame, when the Titans broke out for three goals in under 90 seconds to break the 2-2 deadlock and blow the game wide open.

Clark, 18, got the party started prior to the second intermission with a primary helper on Cooper Kasprick’s 50th goal of his MJHL career, which put the Titans back on top 3-2, before adding two more in quick succession. Clark believed it was only a matter of time before they capitalized on all their glorious opportunities.

“We stuck to their level for the first, you know, two periods. We were a little bit sloppy, just in the neutral zone, and I think before the end of that period, we just stepped it up a little bit,” he said. “We’ve also been getting those third-period goals this year, and as we finally picked it up there, we could kinda establish that forecheck and then make them pay. I think that’s what all led to those goals for us.”

Clark, a five-foot-10, 175-pound Wawanesa product, has seven goals and 15 points in 24 games this season, which already surpass his totals of 13 points in 27 games last year. He feels more comfortable and confident when the puck is on his stick this year, which is a big help as to why he’s seen significant growth in his offensive production, but he said it also helps playing alongside talented veterans like Keenan Skrupa and Kasprick.

“It obviously helps getting used to the league, used to the guys and used to how everything works out and that you just can’t take a night off, but it’s also pretty easy to play with those guys,” said Clark. “You know where they are at all times, and we played a bit together last year, but they have so much experience in the league, and they’re just always in the right spot, always making the right play at the right time.”

As seasoned as Skrupa and Kasprick may be, it would also be a disservice to ignore the experience Clark has gained over the last year and a half.

Before joining Neepawa to play in Manitoba’s junior league, Clark actually made the jump to the Western Hockey League to play with the East Division’s Swift Current Broncos in Saskatchewan. And although the rookie was only able to get 11 games under his belt and was held off the scoresheet in each contest, he was still able to gain some invaluable experience in an elite league with even better players.

“You know what, it was great,” Clark said of this WHL tenure. “It’s such a fast, skilled league with great hockey, and it obviously helped me improve and is just another reminder that, you know, you can’t take a practice or a night off and that your work ethic’s got to be there 100 per cent of the time at all times. It just gets you prepared for everything, pretty much.”

Well, almost everything — because he wasn’t quite ready for the overwhelming emotions that hit him during his first junior stint back in the Wheat City, when Brandon played host to Swift Current last year. Clark said it felt like a full-circle moment.

“Playing in Brandon was super cool,” he said. “I had lots of family and people from my hometown there, and I grew up watching the Wheat Kings almost every game and when I was a little kid, it was pretty cool to play in that arena when you grow up watching it and always wanting to play there. It was, for sure, an experience and definitely kind of a surprise being on the other side of it, maybe taking some boos while playing against them. Yeah, didn’t really expect that, playing on the other side, but it was again, just super cool.”

Now, back with the Titans, Clark and company will look to keep on building toward locking down a playoff spot with a couple of wins this week to extend their winning streak to five games. Neepawa played the Portage Terriers last night at the Yellowhead Community Recreation Centre, but the game ended after deadline. Their next game will be on the road in Swan Valley to face the league’s third-worst club, the Stampeders, Friday evening.

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com