The Estevan Bruins' alumni have held onto the Challenge Cup for the most part since their annual showdown against the Weyburn Red Wings' alumni began, and that continued this year.
The Bruins' oldtimers, some older than others, defeated a team of former Wings 7-3 on New Year's Day at Affinity Place.
The Bruins now hold a 4-1 lead in the all-time series.
"I wasn't expecting the pace to be that high, but it was fun. I enjoyed it," said defenceman Colton MacPherson, who played for the Bruins from 2007-09 before a trade to La Ronge, where he won an SJHL title. "It was my first time playing on the new ice surface here. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I wish I was 18 years old again.
"It's just a good old rec hockey game, but you like to show who's boss sometimes and pull out the victory."
Bruins senior advisor Todd Ripplinger scored twice, and Kyle Garagan, Payden Benning, Brant Kersey, Brody Haygarth and former coach Keith Cassidy added singles.
The Bruins took a 4-1 lead after the first of two 30-minute halves and never let the Wings get closer than two goals after that.
Garagan (2006-09) opened the scoring four minutes in, with the Wings tying it eight minutes later.
The Bruins added three more goals in the last 10 minutes of the period. Benning (2005-08) made it 3-0, followed by Kersey (1996-99) finishing off a tic-tac-toe play and Haygarth (2007-09) finding the back of the net with a snipe.
The teams traded goals back and forth in the second half, starting with a Weyburn goal midway through the frame.
Ripplinger scored his first of two with about 10 minutes left on what looked like a circus shot, flipping the puck high in the air and watching it come down behind Weyburn goalie Riley Hengen and into the net.
After another Red Wings marker shortly after, Ripplinger batted a Karry Biette rebound out of mid-air and in.
Cassidy, who coached the team for two seasons ending last spring, closed out the scoring with less than a minute to play.
Defenceman Steve Godfrey (1984-86) has played in the game since its inception and cherishes the experience.
"We spend an hour on the ice, we have a bit of fun. It's nice to see the guys from Weyburn like (Mark) Schneider that I played against and talk to those guys. Sitting in that dressing room and sitting with all the different generations, that's the reason I come back."
He added that it's encouraging to see younger alumni coming out and he sees the event gaining steam.
MacPherson, who spent some time with the Calgary Dinos after his SJHL career, said it speaks highly of the Bruins and Red Wings' alumni organizations that the yearly tradition exists.
"It's just great hearing stories. You get the young and the old and it's just fun. Being part of this alumni thing is great. I hope they can do it for years to come."
He was reunited with some former teammates, including Garagan, Haygarth, Benning and current assistant coach Darnell Glass, along with Biette, his head coach.
"Looking around the room, it was pretty fun and it brought back some old memories. I heard (Biette) yelling a few times at me, it was kinda good to hear something like that again," he laughed.
Speaking of Glass and Biette, some observers felt the former should have deferred to the latter on a 3-on-0 break in the second half. Glass kept the puck and missed the net.
"It doesn't surprise me when Glasser misses the net. He hit the glass with it, anyway. You got a 50-goal scorer standing behind you like Biette and you should probably drop the puck back if you know who you are, but that's just the way the alumni goes. We expect that out of him," Godfrey joked.
The former Bruin also noted there was a good reason for the Bruins' hot start.
"That was real important. I think they celebrated New Year's a little harder than we did, so they were a little flat."
The present-day Bruins and Wings faced off following the alumni game, with Estevan winning 5-4 in a shootout.
Next year's alumni game will be held in Weyburn on Jan. 1.
