Good afternoon. The Bruins are in North Battleford tonight to try to get back into the win column. The Stars haven't slowed down at all, having won their last seven games, so it will be a very tall order.
North Battleford writer Phil Heilman is running a live chat for the game; you can find it right here.
Last night's 3-2 shootout loss in Kindersley had to be disappointing, especially since the Klippers held Jordon Hoffman and Taylor Duzan out of the lineup (Hoffman was traded to Weyburn today and Duzan likely isn't far behind).
Taylor Reich and Calder Neufeld had the Estevan goals, both on the power play, with Dylan Smith and Austin Yano getting the apples on both. D. Jay McGrath and Bradley Buckingham scored for the Klippers.
In the shootout, Cole Olson had the Bruins' only goal while Brennen Bosovich and Colby Daniels scored for the Klips.
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Speaking of the Hoffman trade, the trade front is starting to heat up around the league. The Klippers have started shipping out their 20-year-olds, beginning with the trade of Jesse Mysiorek to Flin Flon on Friday for 1992 F Jesse Mychan (currently with Everett) and 1995 F Connor Gay.
Today, Kindersley shipped Hoffman and '93 D Aaron Letourneau to Weyburn for '93 F Trent Hermary, '94 D Michael Statchuk and '94 D Kody Thue. I like Hermary, but it sounds like Statchuk will probably go out to Salmon Arm, so my first reaction is to call this a win for the Red Wings.
I dealt with Hoffman and Mysiorek a lot the last two years covering the Klippers, and they are both great kids who were a pleasure to get to know. I know both loved being a Klipper and the trades have to be tough - especially Hoffman, who is a local product from Major - but it's a reality of junior hockey. Both are easy to coach and they play a grinding game built for the playoffs, so their new teams should be happy with them.
Another move came last week when Nipawin traded 1993 F Wilson Dumais to La Ronge for futures. He spent last year and part of 2009-10 with the Prince George Cougars, but he hadn't done much in eight games since being reassigned to the Hawks.
I'm sure we'll see a few more moves before Thursday as the arms race gets going. The Bruins are still looking for another veteran d-man.
Almost 1,500 people packed Spectra Place tonight to see one of the SJHL's best rivalries renewed.
And they got a terrific hockey game.
And then it got ruined.
Let's just say Sheldon Dean is not a popular man in Estevan right now.
After an excellent first two periods that was full of big hits and intensity, Dean became the story in the third period, calling six penalties on the Bruins compared to one for the Wings.
But it wasn't the margin that had people upset. It was some of the calls themselves.
Most notably, with the Wings already on the power play thanks to what looked like a phantom kneeing call on Tyler Kauk, Thomas Carleton delivered a hit to the head of new Bruins defenceman Tyler Poskus. When Dominic Perrault came over to exchange pleasantries, he was called for roughing and the hit itself was not called.
Poskus has a concussion and, according to Keith Cassidy, didn't remember he'd been traded to the Bruins after the game.
There was also the roughing call on Steven Glass after he got bowled over and the phantom cross-checking call on Calder Neufeld that led to the Wings' second goal.
It's too bad because it really was a great game. Both teams brought everything they had and the Bruins responded well to the loss last night.
Weyburn was probably the slightly better team for most of the first period, but the Bruins rattled off two goals 44 seconds apart late in the period to take a 2-0 lead after one.
At 18:49, Cole Olson hit Dylan Smith with a perfect pass for a backdoor goal. On the next shift, Michael Hengen's attempted saucer pass from deep on the left wall deflected off Ben Johnstone's stick and past Brett Teskey.
The Wings got back in it with five minutes left in the second on a goal by Sam Williams. Carleton - who did actually have a heck of a game for the second straight night - was in on the goal.
Weyburn tied it 11 minutes into the third when Coltyn Sanderson fired the puck out front from the corner and it hit something - apparently Keegan Bruce, since he was credited with the goal - and went in the net.
Three and a half minutes later, with the Bruins killing a lengthy 5-on-3 (their second of the period) thanks to the Perrault retaliation call, Sanderson deflected a point shot past Glass for the eventual game-winner.
The loss is a costly one for the Bruins, who now sit seven points behind the Wings (and one behind Melville, who lost back-to-back to Yorkton). And don't look now, but the Terriers are one point back with a game in hand.
Here are post-game interviews with Keith Cassidy and Steven Glass. In his short time here, I have never seen Keith lose his cool and tonight it looked like his head was about to explode. He walked the tightrope but came out with some strong words.
The Weyburn Red Wings came to play tonight and it just wasn't the Bruins' night.
Although the effort was there, and the Bruins did a good job of finishing their checks, they struggled in a lot of aspects of the game and an entertaining third-period comeback wasn't enough to avoid a 4-2 loss.
It was a night where the Bruins had an awful time trying to move the puck in all areas of the ice, whether it was breaking out of their zone or on the power play. They just seemed to be out of sync. There were a lot of mistakes made.
Give them credit for coming out strong in the third period though. A crisp pass by Ryan Ostertag to Michael Hengen (one of the only ones all night) resulted in Hengen's shot being bobbled by Mitch Kilgore, popping out of his glove and being knocked in by Ostertag.
But the Wings replied on a Thomas Carleton goal just 39 seconds later to retain their three-goal lead. But that didn't faze the Bruins, and they got another goal from Dylan Smith on a feed from Taylor Reich in the goalmouth.
Speaking of which, Reich spent a good chunk of the game with Smith and Olson, with Neufeld alongside Paslawski and Johnstone/Froese. Keith said that's the way it will stay for at least a while as they try to get two consistent scoring lines going.
Paslawski was a physical presence out there and had some chances, although like Keith said in the interview below, he could have used his shot more.
Dylan Schellenberg did all the little things right in his debut. There were no scraps, but he made his presence felt and was effective.
One of the highlights of the game was a big hip check by Austin Yano in the second period. I had to look twice to make sure it wasn't Kauk. Looks like he's picked something up from his D partner.
The Bruins are once again down to two goalies after dealing Brandon Stone to the Kindersley Klippers today.
The 18-year-old got into six games with the Bruins after being re-assigned from Moose Jaw in October. He had a 4-1 record with a 3.46 GAA and .892 save percentage.
On the injury front, no players will return to the lineup tonight but Keith Cassidy did confirm that Tyler Paslawski and Dylan Schellenberg will both make their Bruin debuts.
Good morning. We are gearing up for what should be two great games between the Bruins and Red Wings this weekend, first tonight in Weyburn and then tomorrow in Estevan.
There seems to be an extra level of hype around these two games after the Bruins made two deals to add a lot of grit to their roster.
On that note, there should be more Bruins news to pass on later today. I'll also get an injury update later. Stay tuned.
Tyler Paslawski isn't a guy who'll drop the gloves often, but he brings a power forward kind of game and will be counted on to win the physical battles that Keith Cassidy has talked about his team not having the fire to win as of late. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in his first game.
Dylan Schellenberg, meanwhile, is an enforcer who will no doubt be looking to make his mark tonight as he gets an early taste of the Estevan-Weyburn rivalry. According to a comment on dropyourgloves.com, he "throws like a jackhammer" and one of his first questions when he arrived here was how many fights are allowed in a season before suspensions kick in.
But these are more than token rivalry games with some new faces. The Wings and Bruins, along with Melville, are in a tight battle for first place in the Sherwood right now. A pair of wins would vault the Bruins past Weyburn and possibly Melville, depending on how their series with Yorkton goes.
Estevan Bruins (16-10, 3rd in Sherwood)
The Bruins have been getting a good deal of secondary scoring lately. The Hengen-Johnstone-Ostertag line has been very good and will be expected to keep chipping in this weekend. And the Reich-Whitehill-Dochylo checking unit has been terrific considering the absence of Josh Jelinski. I can't say how impressed I've been with Reich - he truly is playing like a veteran and he's been easily the best rookie forward this year, not to take anything away from the other guys. Keith's description of him earlier this year as a "utility infielder" was on the money - not so much in terms of talent, but the fact that he's reliable in any role you put him in.
On the back end, Connor Milligan was hoping to return to the lineup this weekend and if he does, that will be a MASSIVE shot in the arm. He's been tremendous since being acquired from Camrose and you can see the Bruins have clearly missed his veteran presence. There's also a new face in Tyler Poskus. Not sure if he'll be in the lineup tonight.
Weyburn Red Wings (17-9-0-1, 1st in Sherwood)
The Wings, I don't have to tell you, are on fire. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't see them contending for first place at any point this season. But between the dominant top line of Jesse Ross, Coltyn Sanderson and Keegan Bruce, and the stalwart goaltending of Mitch Kilgore, they have put together a remarkable stretch of play over the last few weeks. They've also got the likes of Dylan Coupal and reigning SJHL D-man of the week Jens Johnson on the back end, along with the duo of Carter Struthers and Tyler Borstmayer.
Although Weyburn has gotten production out of newcomers Miguel Pereira, Jack Kennelly and Trent Hermary, they do need more secondary scoring if you ask me. They were in on the Paslawski sweepstakes and I wouldn't be surprised if they add a top six forward before Dec. 1.
I'm planning on heading up for the game tonight, so check back for a post-game recap.
I caught up with new Bruin Tyler Paslawski this afternoon. Here's what he had to say about coming to Estevan.
Reaction to the trade?
I was pretty surprised. I didn’t quite know where I was going to go, but it worked out pretty good. Estevan is a good place and their coach sounds like a good guy. I played with a couple of them in midget (Calder Neufeld and Ryan Ostertag).
On why he requested a trade from the Hawks:
I wasn’t happy with (Doug Johnson's) coaching. I wasn’t getting as much ice time as I’d like to have. I felt like I was being underplayed.
Happy that it's Estevan?
(Spectra Place) is a great facility. I’m pretty excited. (Also has family in Weyburn.)
On what he can bring to the Bruins:
I’m a physical guy, pretty good shot, looking to create a lot of offence, create room for my players. I expect to get a lot done, put up some numbers and hopefully win a championship. That’s the goal.
On Tyler Poskus:
He’s a really smart guy. Once he gets a little older and gets more experience in the league ... (going from) midget AA to the SJ is a pretty big step. He moves the puck really well, hard passer, so he’s a good guy.
The Bruins have shaken things up a little with a five-player trade with the Nipawin Hawks today.
Joining the Bruins are 19-year-old right winger Tyler Paslawski and 18-year-old defenceman Tyler Poskus.
Heading to Nipawin are 18-year-old centre Jesse Bernard as well as prospect forwards Garrett Lockeridge and Brendan Hopkins, both '94 players.
Paslawski's size appeals to the Bruins and they hope he can fill a power forward role. He will start on a line with Derek Whitehill and Taylor Reich.
If you read the SJHL Preview released by the Mercury this year, I pegged Paslawski as one of 10 breakout players in the SJHL and I still believe he'll have a big year.
Paslawski's stats:
I don't know as much about Poskus, but he's a rookie defenceman who's gotten into 12 games with the Hawks. Keith Cassidy said he's heard him described as a guy who would run through a wall to make a play.
The main player going the other way is Jesse Bernard. There was a lot of hype when he signed with the Bruins because he led the Manitoba AAA league in scoring last year. However, he's struggled in the early going with the Bruins, with no points through 20 games. I've seen some improvement in his game (in fact, Keith and I discussed him in our post-game interview which you can listen to in the post below this) but he has a long way to go.
Lockeridge is a '94 forward playing for the Regina Pat Canadians. His stats:
Hopkins is a '94 forward with the Saskatoon Blazers. He was at a WHL camp this year and really looked good in the Bruins' camp. Probably could have played here this year. His stats:
At the end of the day, the Bruins felt they could make this deal because of a very strong group of '93 forwards that has represented itself well, and several other '94 players who could easily come in next year and contribute.
UPDATE: Here's what Keith Cassidy had to say about the trade.
Good afternoon. Before getting into last night's game, it appears the Bruins have a multi-player trade in the works. I don't know yet what the team is giving up. More later when the trade is official.
The Battlefords North Stars showed last night why they are the top team in the SJHL, controlling the majority of the play and largely shutting down a Bruins' offence that ranks first in the league.
Both teams probably could have scored more, but great goaltending from Steven Glass and Connor Creech held it to a 4-1 final, including an empty-netter.
The Stars opened the scoring less than four minutes in when Blake Tatchell fed Braeden Johnson for a tap-in on a 2-on-1. Tanner Quinn made it 2-0 midway through the second on a centering pass from Ryne Keller.
The Bruins got on the board early in the third when Tyler Kauk's wrister got through traffic and past Creech.
Just as the Bruins were close to tying it up, the Neufeld/Olson/Smith line failed to get the puck out and it cost them as Brett Miller roofed a shot over Glass to make it 3-1. Quinn would add an empty-netter.
Steven Glass was phenomenal for the Bruins, making some saves he had no business making. The Stars easily could have had a couple more goals. At the other end, there were a few more chances the Bruins should have finished on. The one that really comes to mind is when Neufeld had pretty much the whole net to shoot at late in the second and Creech somehow kept it out.
On the injury front, Matt Brykaliuk is day-to-day and Connor Milligan says he's targeting next weekend for a tentative return. It's a little less clear when Josh Jelinski and Eric Baldwin might be back.
The Bruins doubled up the Kindersley Klippers 6-3 tonight in one of the most entertaining, freewheeling games I've seen in a while at Spectra Place.
It might not have been the most technically sound game, but it had end-to-end rushes, pretty passing plays, big hits and big saves.
It was a game that I thought was closer than the score would indicate. The Klippers had some prolonged stretches where they really pressured in the Bruins' end but they weren't able to finish plays off the way the Bruins did.
The Klippers drew first blood when the puck hit a skate in front and bounced to Jesse Mysiorek for his 12th of the year, but the Bruins rebounded with three goals in the first period and they kept pressing from there.
This was one of the better games this year for the Neufeld-Olson-Smith line, with Smith netting a hat trick. Neufeld and Smith also had multi-point nights. Neufeld is normally more of a goal scorer, but he set up Smith with a couple of beauties tonight for tap-ins.
The Hengen-Johnstone-Ostertag was very good again and Hengen got his second goal in as many contests, which has to give him some added confidence in his game.
Some of the other Bruins who really looked good were Taylor Reich, Matt Dochylo and Jeff Bartel.
And then there was Brandon Stone. He made a few absolutely spectacular saves, especially with the glove. A couple of them were highlight of the night variety. It's gotta be tough on these guys when they go a week or more without a start, but he made the most of his turn in the cage tonight.
Brandon Halbgewachs, a 17-year-old forward from the Regina Pat Canadians, was called up as an AP and he didn't look out of place. He was one of the more impressive youngsters in camp and he played a solid grinding game tonight with a few hits.
All in all, a very good showing for the Bruins to open up Parents Weekend and tomorrow will be a big test against the SJHL-leading Battlefords North Stars. Steven Glass will start tomorrow night.
Three days after a 7-2 win over the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, the Bruins are back on home ice tonight for their first meeting with the Kindersley Klippers this season.
The Bruins will again be without several key players tonight. Connor Milligan and Josh Jelinski continue to skate but are still out. Eric Baldwin's injury from the hit he took from Marc-Andre Carre last weekend will continue to keep him out. Also, Matt Brykaliuk has an upper-body injury that also kept him out of Tuesday's game against the Hounds.
There may be a callup coming later in the day.
You look at the standings and you'd think this is an easy two points for the Bruins, but you can't safely predict any game in the SJHL this year, really. Case in point: the game against Melfort earlier this month where the Bruins almost blew it.
I spent the last three years covering the Klippers, but this is a much different team than the ones I knew. This will be my third look at them this year along with their two games at Showcase.
Estevan Bruins (15-9, 2nd in Sherwood)
The Bruins have cooled off a bit after their hot start, but to be fair, they've managed to win two of their last four games while dealing with some significant injuries. Having Yano back is a huge boost to their offensive attack as he can either start the rush with a great first pass or carry it up himself. He had three points in his first game back.
Some of the Bruins' secondary scorers are starting to heat up. The most obvious is Ryan Ostertag, who was one of their best players against La Ronge, scored a beauty of a goal and followed that up with two goals and an assist against the Hounds. If he can find a little more consistency in his game, he can be a dangerous threat. Also, third-year forward Michael Hengen scored his first goal of the year Tuesday. It was his first goal since Feb. 13, 2010, since he missed almost all of last year with a knee injury.
That line of Ostertag, Hengen and Johnstone was the Bruins' best against La Ronge and all three players figured in the scoring on Tuesday. The Bruins need them to keep it up.
Kindersley Klippers (6-14-2-1, 6th in Sherwood)
It's been a rough start for the Klippers after losing a lot of talent from last year either through graduation or trades, including a few that didn't bring anything back. The good news for them is they're only three points from getting out of the Sherwood basement. This game is the first in a six-game road trip for them, so they'll be motivated to start the trip on a good note, especially since they've lost five straight games, and eight of their last nine.
The line of Taylor Duzan, Jordon Hoffman and Jesse Mysiorek leads the way for the Klippers, although Duzan has spent some time injured and is off to, by his standards, an average start. Wheaton King and D. Jay McGrath are other players to watch for up front.
David Haaf and recent acquisition Troy Gedny are heavily relied upon on the back end, while Justin McDonald and Fraser Abdallah have split starts in goal.
With some strong veterans and a few talented rookies, it's a team that could probably be getting better results than they've shown, but that hasn't been the case so far.
I'll be doing colour for tonight's game alongside Klippers play-by-play man Brenden Ullrich.
Here's an update on the Bruins' injury situation entering tonight's game at Notre Dame.
Austin Yano is back in the lineup after recovering from his groin injury, giving the Bruins six healthy defencemen. The D pairings will likely look like this:
Kauk-Yano
Perrault-Soper
Bartel-Boesch
Matt Dochylo is over the flu and will also return to the lineup. That's a huge boost for a Bruins team that is still missing their captain.
Eric Baldwin is out with an upper-body injury suffered Saturday that could keep him out for the weekend as well. The Bruins have called up Stoughton forward Dayton Picard from the Moose Jaw Generals to take his place.
The 17-year-old centre is third on the Generals in scoring with nine goals and 18 points through 15 games. He'll most likely be on next year's team so it's a good chance for the Bruins to see him in game action.
Also, Josh Jelinski and Connor Milligan skated today but there is no timetable set for their return.
Check out tomorrow's Mercury for lots of Bruins news - there are stories on the loss to La Ronge, the team's AGM last week and a feature on the stellar play of Tyler Kauk and Austin Yano in the early going.
When the La Ronge Ice Wolves took a 4-0 lead early in the third period tonight, just about everyone figured the game was over. Kudos to the Bruins for scoring a couple and dominating a good stretch of the third period, but in the end their efforts fell short in a 4-2 final.
This was an inconsistent game from the Bruins. There were times when they buzzed around the Wolves' net and couldn't finish, and there were other times when the Wolves were clearly the better team. About half a dozen guys were really impressive, and some others didn't bring anywhere close to their A game.
La Ronge had all kinds of chances in the first period, but they were stonewalled by Derek Tendler and the teams went to their rooms scoreless. But the tide would turn for the Wolves in the second.
Less than two minutes in, on a power play, Marc-Andre Carre took a pass in the slot and buried it blocker side to break the ice.
Speaking of Carre, I forgot how much fun he is to watch. He was dominant in every aspect of the game. Along with his goal and assist (and another 1-on-2 rush where he fooled everyone and rang a shot off the post), he dished out a few big hits and he was excellent defensively. You could tell he's spent some time in the pros. Carre adds an entire other dimension to that team.
Just before the three-minute mark, Tendler got caught going the wrong way but still managed to lunge back and rob Brett McNevin with the paddle. Then Smerek took the rebound and scored on a wraparound.
With 8:20 left in the period, there was a delay of about 20 minutes due to an ice issue around the Wolves' net. It took a while to find a CO2 extinguisher to fix the problem. The delay was so long that both teams took a quick warmup when the ice was ready to go.
Not long after the game resumed, a Dom Perrault point shot was tipped by Calder Neufeld past Alex Rajotte but was called back on a high stick.
Shortly after that, the Bruins got a bad break when Skyler Hladun's shot (which was going wide) hit Ben Johnstone in the midsection and ricocheted back toward Tendler. He made the reflex save but the rebound was right there for Nathan Boyer to put in.
It was a tough momentum swing, going from 2-1 to 3-0, not to mention Johnstone, who was one of the best Bruin forwards all night. He threw some big hits.
I really wasn't impressed by the Bruins' play late in the second and early in the third, and less than a minute after they frittered away a power play, Zac Ashdown cleaned up a rebound off a Carre shot to make it 4-0.
The Bruins' comeback began at 7:38 on a fluke goal when Rajotte swatted at a puck in mid-air and accidentally knocked it into his net. Neufeld got credit for the power play goal. It came at a good time for the Bruins after the first 1:30 of that man advantage had been absolutely terrible.
Ryan Ostertag made it 4-2 less than two minutes later on one of the nicest goals you'll see all year. He flew down the left side, on his off wing, and unleashed a ridiculously quick shot that found a tiny hole in the top right corner, pretty much the only space Rajotte left open.
The Bruins pressed for the rest of the period but couldn't beat Rajotte again.
Both goalies were outstanding tonight. The next player who stood out for the Bruins was Tyler Kauk. With Yano and Milligan out of the lineup, he was relied upon even more than usual - I'd wager he was close to 30 minutes - and carried himself like a vet. He also showed a little extra confidence with the puck, carrying it deep a couple of times when it seemed no one else could break across the line.
Ostertag had several good chances and really used his speed to generate odd-man breaks. There's no telling what kind of numbers he could put up if he looked like that every night.
With Jelinski and Dochylo out of the lineup, the checking unit was comprised of Reich, Whitehill and Baldwin and I felt they did a good job of grinding it out against the Carre line. Reich was especially solid and played with a lot of fire.
Meanwhile, the Neufeld-Olson-Smith line created some chances but also failed to finish and were guilty of dragging their feet far too often. That has to change.
Yorkton Harvest defenceman Blake McMillen was AP'd for the game and, although there were a couple of mistakes, he didn't hurt the Bruins, which is about all you can ask for in that situation. He played mostly with Perrault.
The Bruins will swing back into action tonight after a week off by welcoming the La Ronge Ice Wolves for the third meeting of the two teams this season.
The Bruins and Ice Wolves split a pair of games in La Ronge last month but it's the Wolves' first visit to Spectra Place other than the two games they played during the SJHL Showcase.
Estevan is coming off a not-so-great weekend and this is an important game for them to get back into the win column, especially with Weyburn having pulled even for top spot in the Sherwood.
Estevan Bruins (14-8)
The week off came at a good time for the Bruins, who are suddenly a little banged up. Four players will be out of the lineup tonight. Josh Jelinski, Austin Yano and Connor Milligan are still out with injuries they suffered last week, and Matt Dochylo is out with the flu. Yorkton Harvest defenceman and Carnduff native Blake McMillen will be in the lineup as an AP. The absence of Yano and Milligan also means that Lyndon Soper will draw in for only his fifth game of the season.
Missing both Jelinski and Dochylo is a huge blow for the Bruins. Both guys are gritty vets who set the tone every night and their work ethic is sorely missed. Yano and Milligan obviously leave two major holes on the back end. It's a chance for several rookie players to step up and take on more responsibility.
La Ronge Ice Wolves (12-11-0-2)
The big story in La Ronge is the return of Marc-Andre Carre. Last year's co-scoring leader and league MVP has been cut from the CHL's Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and he made his return to the Ice Wolves last night, chipping in an assist in a 5-4 shootout loss to Weyburn. Although Carre won't have the likes of Travis Eggum, Doug Lindensmith or Logan Herauf on his wings, he will certainly be a focal point for the Bruins and should open up some space for a few other Wolves who can put the puck in the net.
The other story in La Ronge in the past week is the likely retirement of defenceman David Greyeyes. The 20-year-old had a bright career ahead of him before suffering a serious concussion in camp with Prince George in 2009. He then sat out two full seasons before joining the Ice Wolves this year. Greyeyes, who had five points in eight games this season, reportedly took a hit to the head last weekend from Wings forward Jack Kennelly and, according to Wolves voice Daniel Fink, will probably be forced to retire. It's a sad story but thankfully he's putting the rest of his life ahead of hockey.
I'll be doing colour tonight on the La Ronge broadcast. If you can't make it to the game, you can tune in online at mbcradio.com.
We have snow on the ground and with that, the SJHL trade market is beginning to heat up. There seems to be no shortage of league news from the past week to break down.
Melville shook things up on Friday with a pair of trades. Zach Rakochy and Mark Owen were shipped to the Steinbach Pistons for 18-year-old forward Russell Trudeau, who produced at nearly a point-per-game pace last year. Trudeau got off to a quick start with two points in his first SJHL game against the Bruins on Saturday.
The Mils then sent Roger Tagoona to the North Stars for 20-year-old goalie Blake Voth. Voth backstopped the Vernon Vipers for the past two years and was shopped around by the Stars after returning from a USHL tryout. Despite dealing Rakochy, the Mils' tandem of Voth and Alex Wakaluk is a formidable one, assuming Voth lives up to expectations.
Also on Friday, Flin Flon sent defenceman Gabe Minville to Portage for 19-year-old forward Andrew Allan.
Since then, one marquee player has returned to the SJHL and a second one is likely on the way. Defenceman Woody Klassen has returned to the Battlefords after a stint with the ECHL's Greenville Road Warriors. The 20-year-old made his debut last night against Flin Flon. Klassen is a premier point-producing blueliner who immediately makes the first-place Stars even more scary. There's no question they are a legitimate Credit Union Cup threat. It's good to see after they fell well short of expectations last year.
Meanwhile, Ice Wolves play-by-play man Daniel Fink is reporting that star centre Marc-Andre Carre has been waived by the CHL's Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, and has since cleared waivers. It's very likely that he will now return to La Ronge to finish his last year of junior hockey.
The Wolves seem to be hitting their stride after a slow start and adding Carre, who tied for the league scoring lead last year, should make them a solid bet for a top-three finish in the north, at the least. Carre had one assist in five games of pro hockey.
Finally, Kindersley has shipped checking forward Ryan Elliot to Swan Valley for 18-year-old forward Beau Stewart, formerly of the Bombers. Elliot was brought in by the Klippers last December while I was covering the team and carved out a niche as an extremely hard-working energy guy who could chip in timely goals. It sounds like he's struggled to start this year though.
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You can read my story on the Bruins' weekend split against the Mustangs and Millionaires, along with injury updates, here.
Also, the Bruins are holding their AGM tonight at the Days Inn, so check out next week's paper for a look at their financial picture from last season.
Edit - Also, congrats to Dylan Smith on being named the SJHL player of the week. Smitty put up five goals and four assists in three games, including a hat trick on Friday and a four-point night Saturday.
Greasy is the word I'd use to describe tonight's 6-5 win over Melfort. There was another word that Keith used but I don't think it's suited for this blog.
It certainly was not an impressive performance, but in the end Dylan Smith's hat trick empty net goal stood up as the winner.
Give the Mustangs credit - not many people would have given the last-place club a chance tonight, but even after Smith's empty-netter made it 6-4 with 62 seconds to play, Melfort kept fighting and made it a one-goal game again when Carter Berg scored with 36 seconds left.
The Bruins found themselves down 3-1 midway through the game despite outshooting the 'Stangs by a wide margin. Two of those goals were ones I'm sure Brandon Stone would like to have back.
Melfort opened the scoring 33 seconds into regulation when Avery Van Blaricom followed the puck into the corner and the Bruins left Curtis Fontaine all alone in front. Van Blaricom managed to get the puck out to him and he lifted it over Stone's glove.
The Bruins tied it up at 8:33 on a great shift by Ben Johnstone that would end with him setting up a Calder Neufeld goal.
But the Mustangs pulled ahead again eight minutes later on some poor defensive coverage by Estevan that allowed Anthony Pickering to walk in for a quality chance. His wrister glanced off Stone (either his shoulder or blocker) and fluttered up and into the net.
Useless fact: all three goals in the first period came x minutes and 33 seconds into the game (0:33, 8:33, 16:33).
Pearce Gourley made it 3-1 nearly 12 minutes into the second on a five-hole shot that Stone got a piece of, but it trickled in.
The Bruins responded with two goals in 61 seconds late in the period. It began with a shorthanded rush that saw Cole Olson feed Taylor Reich for a goal at 17:23. Then Smith got his stick on a Dom Perrault point shot to tie it up going to the intermission.
Brendan Tash would put the Mustangs back on top at 1:08 of the third with a shorty of his own, but again the Bruins replied with a pair of quick goals.
The Neufeld-Olson-Smith line was reunited in the third period and it paid off. Smith's second of the night came on the power play at the seven-minute mark when he finished off a cross-ice feed from Olson on the doorstep.
Then, 47 seconds later, Matt Brykaliuk gave the Bruins their first lead of the night on a bad-angle shot that somehow got between Jesse Ehnisz and the post.
The Bruins were missing a pair of key guys tonight. Josh Jelinski won't play tomorrow in Melville and it's not clear yet if he'll be ready to return to the lineup next weekend against La Ronge. Austin Yano suffered a groin injury in practice this morning and also won't play tomorrow, but he's expected to start skating again on Monday.
Script writer 1: So we've got this kid returning to his hometown with his new team in his rookie season. How should he do?
Script writer 2: Hat trick?
Script writer 1: Nah, too cheesy.
Script writer 2: Yeah I guess you're right.
You couldn't write the script for Ben Johnstone's homecoming in Carlyle last night. The rookie forward scored a hat trick, doubling his season goal total, to lead the Bruins to an 8-3 walloping of the Notre Dame Hounds in a neutral-site game at the Carlyle Sports Arena.
Here's what Ben had to say after a too good to be true performance in front of his family and friends.
Good afternoon. The Bruins are preparing for a neutral-site home game tonight against the Notre Dame Hounds in Carlyle. Game time is 7:30 at Carlyle Sports Arena.
I'm heading up for the game, so check my twitter feed for updates and come back to the blog for a post-game recap.
It's the Bruins' first game since last Wednesday's 9-0 loss to the Terriers. That game is in the distant past now for the players, especially after their weekend trip to Grand Forks to check out the Fighting Sioux playing St. Cloud State.
Keith Cassidy called the trip "an eye-opener" for the players. Apparently there's nothing like watching a game at the Ralph, something I haven't experienced but hope to this winter.
Moving on to tonight's game, one of the focuses will obviously be on Ben Johnstone, who's from Carlyle. The rookie forward had a slow start to the year offensively but he's been heating up the last couple of weeks. It would be great to see him score one in his hometown.
In terms of roster notes, Dom Perrault will be back in the lineup and I believe Michael Hengen will be as well. Derek Tendler hasn't started since Oct. 21 in La Ronge and my guess is we'll see him tonight. That said, I don't have any info as to who will start.
If the Bruins' schedule wasn't already a little quirky, after two games this weekend they'll have ANOTHER full week off. Seriously?
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If you haven't yet read Mike Stackhouse's blog post with comments from two former Neepawa Natives, please do. It contains a lot of disturbing information about the way Bryant Perrier treats his players.
The failure of the Natives' executive to dismiss Perrier is unacceptable and smacks of incredible arrogance. This is more fuel for the fire.
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You've no doubt heard about Raffi Torres and the uproar over his Jay-Z Halloween costume. I think the backlash is ridiculous. Here's why.
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The Canada West and Canada East rosters were named this week for the World Junior A Challenge. Canada West has 14 players from the BCHL, with Humboldt's Riley Kieser being the only SJHL player picked. Canada East has 17 players from the OJHL.
These two teams are supposed to represent 10 leagues. Five of those leagues don't have a single player on the roster. Another league, the SJ, only has one player. What a joke.
How about we send Team BCHL and Team OJHL next year?
Here's the story in today's Mercury about the Bruins' blowout win and blowout loss last week. Check back later today for a preview of tonight's game against the Hounds in Carlyle.
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The Estevan Bruins learned why it's better to give than to receive last week.
A remarkable shift in less than 24 hours saw the Bruins go from flattening the Notre Dame Hounds 9-2 on Tuesday to getting slaughtered 9-0 by the Yorkton Terriers the next night.
The Jekyll and Hyde routine moved Estevan to 12-7 on the year, two points ahead of Weyburn in the battle for first place in the Sherwood Conference.
"You have a game like (Tuesday's win) and you're feeling really good about yourself and you feel like you can do nothing wrong, and you forget what you did to earn that," said Bruins head coach Keith Cassidy, who added that the difference between the two games "isn't personnel, it's the way we showed up mentally."
The only change to the lineup Wednesday was the absence of defenceman Dominic Perrault, who was attending to a personal matter. Jeff Bartel took his place.
After the loss to Yorkton, the Bruins got a week off leading into tonight's game against the Hounds in Carlyle. They used the time off to take a weekend trip to Grand Forks and watch the University of North Dakota take on St. Cloud State twice.
The Yorkton game began badly for the Bruins when a Terriers shot went off a skate and rolled slowly past goalie Steven Glass, barely crossing the goal line after hitting the post. Curtis Oliver got credit and would score another one 18 seconds later.
"We've gotta be mentally tough enough to battle through that and not let it affect us," Cassidy said. "Even from that point, I think we still had a reasonable effort. Our execution from that point on was pretty terrible."
Justin Lamontagne would give the Terriers a three-goal lead before the end of the period.
The visitors continued to bring the pain, scoring four times in the second with markers from Brady Norrish, Keven Cann, Riley Paterson and Zak Majkowski to open up a 7-0 cushion after 40 minutes.
Ryon Sookro and Lamontagne, with his second of the night, rounded out the scoring in the third.
Cassidy didn't make any excuses for the poor showing.
"I'm through with saying these guys are a young team. I'm through with saying it's five games in six nights. It doesn't matter when we play, we gotta show up and play."
Tuesday's win was a much happier affair for the Spectra Place faithful, with the game summary following much the same path.
