The SJHL's 2010 Showcase took place in Weyburn over the weekend, and the Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins came away with three of a possible four points thanks to a win over Melville and a shoot-out loss to the host Red Wings.
Estevan also played at home to Kindersley last Wednesday, where they put forth a sub-par performance and dropped a 4-2 decision.
The Klippers, who got a two-goal performance from Braeden Adamyk, jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period, and held a 3-0 advantage in the second before Tyler Spencer and Ben Findlay each scored to get Estevan within one.
That was as close as the Bruins would get however, as Adamyk's second of the night made it 4-2, and that was how it ended. Estevan pulled goalie Joel Danyluk late in the third in an attempt to get back in the game, but were unsuccessful.
The Bruins played their first game at the Showcase against Melville on Friday afternoon, and they were able to get by the Mils 4-3 in a shootout. Ryan Andersen, newly acquired Cole Gibson and Spencer scored for Estevan in regulation, while Gibson, Findlay and Justin Waskewitch all tallied in the shootout.
After a day off on Saturday, the Bruins wrapped up the Showcase on Sunday evening against the Red Wings. Like the Bruins' contest versus Melville, this game required a shootout to decide a winner, however Estevan came out on the losing end this time, 5-4.
After going three-for-three in the shootout against Melville, the Bruins were zero-for-three against Weyburn. Gibson scored his second goal in as many games with the Bruins in regulation, while Troy Hunter, Cole Olson and Joel Kot also bulged the twine.
Bruins' head coach Karry Biette said he was quite happy with Gibson's play in his first two games with the team.
"He's a left winger that's going to add to our power play, and I really like his speed and his smarts," Biette said.
While he was not happy with his club's performance at home against the Klippers, Biette said they showed improvement over the weekend.
"It's like I explained to the guys, we can't play the way we did at home against Kindersley and expect to flick the switch and get back to our A game," he said. "It's going to take some time and effort, but I thought we made some good strides towards getting back to winning some hockey games."
Estevan will now head out on a tough six-games in 11 nights road trip with back-to-back stops in both La Ronge and Flin Flon. Biette said he understands that his team will have to be at their best on the road if they want to remain in second place in the Sherwood Conference at Christmas time.
"There is a bit of urgency to stay in that top three right now, but there's a lot more urgency to make sure we're there at the end of February," he said. "The guys know where we sit in the standings and they also know that we have eight home games and a favourable schedule in February."
Estevan's next home game is December 31, when they host Weyburn at the Civic Auditorium. XS-IV and Regens Disposal will be sponsoring a $10,000 shootout during one of the intermissions. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
