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YORKTON - Yorkton Terriers have forfeited three early season wins.

The  wins on Oct. 11, 16 and 18 versus the Nipawin Hawks, Estevan Bruins and Melville Millionaires respectively were stripped for the use of an ineligible player, announced the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has announced.

The Yorkton Terrier organization has announced their intention to appeal the recent decision by the league to deduct points from three of their games due to what they term “the alleged use of an ineligible player” in a release issued Tuesday morning.

The team firmly believes that the ruling was unjust and is committed to ensuring that the situation is rectified, detailed the release.

“We owe it to our players, fans and the entire Yorkton community to appeal this decision and uphold the integrity of our team,” stated the release, continuing the Yorkton Terriers are dedicated to maintaining fair play and transparency in all their operations. Further updates will be provided as the appeal process progresses.

The league has stated the wins and points in the standings form those games will be awarded to Nipawin, Estevan, and Melville.

The decision leaves the Terriers with a 5-6 record and 10 points, tumbling the team down the Viterra Division standings to third spot tie with Estevan seven back of Melville with 17 and four behind Weyburn with 14.

The players involved with these contests shall be credited with all personal statistics.

In the case of a tie-breaking scenario at the end of the season:

For all games that Yorkton used an ineligible player, they will have their team goals reduced to zero (0). All goals scored against Yorkton will remain as is. The non-offending team will have their total Goals Against reduced by the number of goals that were scored against them during that game. In the case where the opposing team did not score a goal, one will be added to their total to make the score 1-0. It will not be awarded to any specific player. All individual player stats will remain as is. Only team stats are changed.

Section 4.1 of the SJHL Rules and Regulations identities the parameters around this matter:

INELIGIBLE PLAYERS

4.1 No player shall be permitted to participate in a League game unless he appears on that team’s player protected lists. Notification of Protected Players Lists, Certified Players and Affiliated Players are to be completed through the electronic registration process. In addition to the right of the Commissioner to forfeit a game for the use of an ineligible player, the offending team will receive a mandatory fine of four hundred and fifty dollars ($450.00).