The NACI Tigers put on a dominant display as they ensured a win for their graduating players on Senior Night last Wednesday at the Yellowhead Centre. The game began with a salute to the Tigers' Grade 12 athletes Matthew Sneesby, Riley Kolesar, Cody James, Kyle McDonald, Jesse Adams and Grant Graham who all welcomed their parents on to the ice with a hug and bouquet of flowers. Following the ceremony, the Westman High School Hockey League's (WHSHL) only remaining undefeated team went straight to work by routing the visiting Melita/Waskada squad 9-1. Neepawa was up 2-0 less than eight minutes in to the game, but Melita/Waskada scored its lone goal of the game on the powerplay with 3:33 left in the period to come within a goal of the Tigers. That's as close as the game would get, as NACI added three second-period goals and four more in the final frame to clinch a 9-1 win. Nine Tigers had multi-point nights including Matthew Sneesby (three goals, one assist), Garett Rempel (two goals, one assist), Riley Kolesar, Cody James and Kyle McDonald (three assists each), Brendan Harris (two goals), Wyatt Salmon and Braedon Mitchell (one goal, one assist each), and Jeremy Hodgins (two assists). Shane Levandosky and Trent Nelson each had a single assist while Grant Graham gave a great performance in net to clinch the win for the Tigers. NACI took six penalties and scored shorthanded once, while Melita/Waskada only had three penalties. A few days earlier, on Sunday, the Tigers thrashed Brandon's Vincent Massey Vikings 7-1. Riley Kolesar had a three-point night with two goals, Garett Rempel scored twice, and Brett McKinnon, Shane Levandosky and Matthew Sneesby all had one-goal, one-assist games. Preston James, Trent Nelson, Wyatt Salmon, Matthew Sneesby, Kyle McDonald, Jeremy Hodgins and Hayden Kolesar had an assist each. As of Friday afternoon, NACI is 15-0 in WHSHL action this season, outscoring their opponents 104-26 over that span. Russell's Major Pratt sits in second place in the league with a 12-win, 2-loss record. In the latest Top Eight rankings Jan. 22, the NACI Tigers remained as the top-ranked A/AA team in the province. As of Jan. 20, NACI's Brady Plett and Grant Graham sit first and second in league goaltending with 1.67 and 1.86 goals against averages while Kyle McDonald leads the league in scoring with 39 points.






