The Estevan TS&M bantam AA Bruins were on the road for their first two games of the South Sask Minor Hockey League season this past weekend.
The Bruins were in Yorkton on Saturday, and the two clubs played to a 6-6 tie. The Bruins got impressive offensive output from both Lyndon Pastachak, who scored four goals, and Chase McKersie, who added the other two.
On Sunday Estevan was in Melville, where they lost a very close 4-3 decision. Melville scored with just 57 seconds left in the third period to win the game.
"Both games were really good games, they were good building blocks for our team," said Bruins coach Jeff Yanko. "We did a lot of things right and we've identified where we need to improve, as far as errors in our own end, turnovers and that kind of thing."
The Bruins matched up well against both Yorkton and Melville, and they feel they should have come out on top in both contests, but Yanko said it's early in the season and it's a brand new speed of hockey for most of his players.
Both games were obviously very close and Yanko expects to be in a lot of those types of games this season. He said they're a little disappointed with the results from their first weekend, but he isn't too worried because they know where they need to improve.
Working together as a team and puck possession are two concepts the Bruins will be focusing on in the coming weeks.
"Hanging onto that puck as opposed to dumping it in and hoping for the best. I think we're a skilled enough team where we can control the puck for most of the game," he said. "The team with the puck for the longest period of time wins the hockey game."
The Bruins play their first game at home this Saturday against Lumsden at 5:30 p.m. and after that they will have at least one home game each weekend for the rest of October.
