It was a busy weekend for the Yorkton RawTec Maulers of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. The team played four games in five games.
On Wednesday, the games kicked off on home ice as the Maulers took on the Regina Pat Canadians, currently in first place in the league standings.
A close and well-fought game ended in a win for the Maulers, with a final score of 3-2.
The first period gave the Pats a quick lead, as they scored two goals without the Maulers returning any in the first.
But the Maulers would tie it up in the second. The first goal came from Kaedan Korczak with the assists from MacKenzie Walkington and Derrick Budz.
Shortly after, Kaleb Bulych would score to tie it up for the Maulers, with the assist from Beau Stevenson.
The third period started and a quick penalty would give the Maulers a power play that would end up winning them the game. Aiden Bulych scored, with the assists coming from Trey Bear and Ryder Pierson.
The Maulers have had a change in their coaching staff since their weekend play. Head coach at the time, Graham Garrett, said the game was the best game he’s seen from the Maulers all year.
“Obviously our feet were moving, we played regimented to the system, we played with a lot of positive emotion, stayed disciplined and you know what, in the end, our power play scored us a huge goal that gave us that win,” said Garrett.
“It was an opportunity for us to turn our season around and to understand what we could be,” he said.
On Thursday, the Maulers headed to Notre Dame to take on the Argos. The game would end in another victory for the Maulers, with a score of 4-1. Goals came from Keenan Sperling, Zach McIntyre with assists from Josh Bear and Derrick Budz, Ryder Pierson with the assist from Trey Bear, and Derrick Budz from Carson Benning and Ty Kotylak.
On Saturday and Sunday it was back to home ice for the Maulers as they hosted a two-game series against the Swift Current Legionnaires.
Both games would end in favour of the Legionnaires.
On Saturday, the final score was 4-0. On Sunday, the final score was 5-1, with the only Maulers goal coming from Kishuan Gervais with the assist from Jordan Repsch.
In the third period of Sunday’s game, a full line brawl occurred, sending players from both team out of the game, as well as several others into the penalty box.
After the game, Garrett was not thrilled by the performance of his team.
“Four in five nights is a tough schedule, but when you have two wins like we did, again, we’re just a team that thinks we’re better than we are just cause we win a game. Then we lose the focus and lose the structure of how we’re supposed to play, and we get blown out. That’s what happened this weekend,” said Garrett.
He gave credit to the Legionnaires’ goalie, who he said is in his players’ heads because of the struggle they have to score against him.
He also commented on the penalties that were given to his team.
“It’s fine to be frustrated,” he said. “But when you’re undisciplined about it, you cost the hockey team. That’s what I watched guys do today.”
“We do not help ourselves at all when we are undisciplined, and some of our leaders are leading the way in penalty minutes.”
The RawTec Maulers have the next week off from game action to rest up from their busy weekend. But, they’ll return to the Farrell Agencies Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 8:00 p.m. when they face Tisdale.
