The Bruins rallied from a 1-0 deficit after two periods to beat the Mils for the fourth time in as many tries this season with a 4-1 victory.
Allen Kilback had the Mils' goal late in the second period.
Austin Yano tied it early in the third on a brilliant end-to-end rush - I was thinking he and Perrault should have switched numbers for that one - and Taylor Reich gave the Bruins the lead when he tipped a puck out front and then turned around to tap it past Alex Wakaluk. It was another strong game for Reich, mostly on the top unit with Smith and Olson in the absence of Calder Neufeld (groin).
With less than two minutes left, Josh Jelinski managed to get the puck past Wakaluk despite being dogged by a Melville player all the way to the net. Reich scored an empty-netter not long after that.
On the injury front, Eric Baldwin missed the game, not due to the hit from behind on Sunday but with a hip ailment. Michael Hengen also left the game in the second period and Keith said it sounds like a knee injury, or at least something to do with his leg.
I thought it was a solid effort from the Bruins. It seemed that they just couldn't finish in the first two periods, despite the chances they were getting. There were a lot of shots that missed the net. But it all came together in the third.
Next up is a looooong 3-in-3 trip to La Ronge and Melfort this weekend.
***
Finally have some time and energy to throw out some thoughts on the Showcase. The entire weekend was a blast from start to finish, inside and outside the rink. As I've said before, it's a pretty cool atmosphere having hockey being played from morning till night, and with people from all over the province in the rink.
I don't have a firm number on the total number of scouts that showed up, but the consensus seems to be between 30 and 40. You can find a list of the registered scouts in the post below this one. I had a chat with a couple of the NHL guys and the overriding sentiment was that they come to the showcase because they don't want to be the one sitting at the draft table when someone else drafts a kid they didn't go to look at.
I honestly thought Saturday provided the most entertaining hockey, even though the Bruins didn't play. The final three games of the day, La Ronge vs. Nipawin, Humboldt vs. Melville and Flin Flon vs. Kindersley might have been the three best games of the weekend.
The Bruins won both of their games and many of their players made the most of the chance to play in front of the scouts. Upwards of a dozen players got interest from scouts at one level or another. Two guys I really felt made an impression were Steven Glass and Matt Brykaliuk. Glass started both games and handled himself like a seasoned vet. Brykaliuk had a breakout game Friday, showing off his skill and giving signs that he's making the adjustment to SJHL hockey.
Part of the showcase is the social aspect and I ran into a lot of familiar faces, including some old friends and players from Kindersley, which was nice. Speaking of which, I couldn't believe how many fans were there from Flin Flon and Nipawin. It almost sounded like the Whitney when the Bombers scored.
And honestly, every person I talked to raved about Spectra Place. People ran out of things to say. Safe to say it certainly made an impression.
It was a blast, but I'm glad it's over. I almost fell asleep a few times during Sunday's games.
Did you make it out? Any thoughts? Leave a comment.
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