After winning the Kelly Dmyterko Memorial tournament in Prince Albert on December 13 and 14, the Estevan Apex midget AA Bruins resumed league play this past weekend, and did so in fine fashion with a pair of wins.
The Bruins travelled to Regina to battle the Capitals on Friday night and came away with a 6-2 victory. Estevan jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first period, thanks to goals by Austin Halladay, Ryan Frehlick, Marshall Holzer, Jake McMillen and Dylan Johner.
The contest took an ugly turn in the second period after a Regina player was called for checking from behind. In all, the two clubs combined for 217 minutes in penalties.
"We ended up with four or five fights in that game," said Bruins' coach Tom Copeland. "Regina did what they had to survive in the game and you're never overly happy with games like that. We probably could have won that game 20-0 if we really wanted to, but it's hard to stay focused."
Estevan's Klae Bayda received a three game suspension for his part in a melee after the hit from behind, but Copeland said Bayda was just sticking up for his teammate.
"We're not unhappy with his decision to fight, Copeland said. "We had Brycen Odgers get hit from behind in a fairly belligerent fashion, and Klae went in to defend his teammate. He made the right decision and it's unfortunate he faces the suspension as a result."
After scoreless, but far from uneventful second period, the teams traded goals in the third, and it was Odgers who tallied for the Bruins to seal their 6-2 victory.
On Saturday, Estevan played their first game at the Civic Auditorium since October 30, and they used it as an opportunity to defeat the Lumsden/Bethune Lions 7-4. The Lions are near the bottom of the standings, but Copeland said their top kids came to play and they were able to keep the score close until the final frame.
"We got good performances out of Dylan Johner and Dylan Herzberg," he said. "They kind of put the team on their backs and carried them in the third period of the hockey game, and we pulled out of it with a win."
Herzberg recorded a hat trick in the game, while Johner added a goal and three assists. The rest of the Bruins' offence came from Brody Connelly with a pair of goals and Odgers who added a single.
Copeland said his team played fairly well over the weekend, considering they had a "hockey hangover" after winning the tournament in Prince Albert, but he maintains they must play better this coming weekend if they have any aspirations to finish first in their league.
The Bruins host Melville on Friday at 8:30 p.m., but their big test will come on Saturday at 8 o'clock when the Notre Dame Argos come to town. The second place Argos beat them 5-2 earlier this month, but according Copeland, now may be the best time to get a rematch.
"They haven't been playing very good hockey as of late," he said. They seem to be struggling to score. We saw them in Prince Albert and they were outshooting teams drastically. They out-shot Beardy's by probably two to one, I think they had 50 shots in that game and they lost it badly. Then we watched them play in the B-final and they played well enough, but just weren't scoring so we really want to take advantage of that if we can."
The Bruins need to win as many games as possible before Christmas so they can be as close to the top of the standings as they can. On December 31, the SHA uses the league rankings to determine where teams sit for the provincials, so Estevan has nine games to better their position.
"It's just trying to make the kids understand how important this is, said Copeland. "We've got a five-game set coming here and in the next five games, we should be able to put a fairly decent stranglehold on those top three spots."
