The Estevan Bruins appear poised to go forward with virtually the same defence corps they ended last season with.Lucas Stubel, Tyler Spencer, Ty Ariss, Brett Rock, Cris Neurauter, and Hayden Warrack are all eligible to return for their 19 and 20-year-old seasons."It's fair to say we don't have one guy that's head and shoulders ahead of anyone but to me we've got five pretty capable guys that can hold down a power play and I don't know that we'll make a move in the offseason to acquire another veteran d-man," said Bruins head coach/general manager Karry Biette.***Riley Tetreault is returning to the Bruins.Tetreault, who played two seasons with Estevan from 2007-09, will assist Biette for the second straight season with the running of the annual Estevan Bruins Hockey School.Registration will take place Aug. 15 in the Civic lobby and players can sign up in advance by calling 634-7730 or by e-mail at [email protected]."[Tetreault] was a welcome addition last year and the kids really took to him we're looking forward to it," said Biette.***Over-age forwards Kyle Johnson and Mark Cross will represent the Estevan Bruins on the Northern Connecticut Wings summer hockey team in July.The Wings, based out of Simsbury, Conn., have hosted six other Bruins over the past two offseasons for the month-long program, which concludes with the prestigious Chowder Cup tournament each July.Three of those players - Kyle Stroh, Chad Filteau, and Brant Harris - went on to earn NCAA hockey commitments for the following season.This year's Chowder Cup is scheduled for July 21-25 at three arenas in Massachusetts, about 50 kilometres south of downtown Boston."They're both very excited. They're looking forward to it," Biette said of Johnson and Cross. "They're looking forward to the opportunity to outstretch their comfort zone, getting outside of Canada and into different surroundings with different teammates. But more than anything I think they're just looking forward to playing some hockey."***Chris Neamonitis, who emerged as the Bruins' No. 1 goalie in 2009-10, will continue his playing career with the Concordia Cobbers NCAA Division 3 men's hockey team.Nemo, as he was known to his fans and teammates, made his junior A debut as an over-age player and arrived in Estevan with the stated goal of earning a college commitment for the 2010-11 season.The ambitious goal came to pass when Neamonitis committed to the Moorhead, Minn.-based school on May 6."I've talked to the coach lots about that and their starting goalie this year, it was his first year too," said Neamonitis. "He expects me to get in there and push him and if we're both playing at the top of our games we'll probably do the rotation, one game each, and as a freshman I'd be fine with that."Neamonitis becomes the third member of the 2009-10 Bruins to commit to an American college for next season, following Chad Filteau and Brant Harris."It was a pretty lofty goal but I'm glad I achieved it it's definitely a nice feeling to get that off my shoulders," said Neamonitis.
