Last year's version of the Apex Bruins made it to the South Saskatchewan Midget AA League final against the Yorkton Terriers after a 29-4-3 regular season.
This year, the Bruins have had a bit of a tougher time in the early going, dropping a 4-1 decision Saturday to the Swift Current Broncos after tying them 4-4 Friday in their first two games of the season at Affinity Place.
The Bruins and Broncos were knotted at 0-0 until they ran into penalty problems early in the second and surrendered a pair of power play goals.
“(Saturday), we came out a little flat,” said Bruins head coach Sean Riley. “It was zero-zero, but we thought we should have been up based on what we got as a team. Who knows if the players were tired or just a little cocky, you never know. You saw it was just a letdown at the end. You've just got to make sure these players stay motivated and keep taking it game by game.”
The Broncos led 3-0 after the second period Saturday and stopped the Bruins from getting back into the game, even as the Bruins had a few power plays.
“Our power play definitely needs some work for sure,” Riley said. “There's no trick, no secret. We've just got to stay out of the penalty box.”
Gone from last year's great team are leading scorers Josh Skjonsby, Jacob Palmer and Hunter Piche, and top defencemen Brady Long and Cole Brooks, and in their place are a lot of younger, inexperienced players that are learning on the fly that the midget AA game is a faster, less forgiving game.
Dawson Schaff, one of only a handful of veterans on the team, scored Saturday's only goal for the Bruins. Bryson Garton made 31 saves in the loss.
Friday, the Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first two periods when Dawson Schaff, Jaden Gervais and Tristan Seeman each scored. The Broncos stormed back to tie but the Bruins' Daymon Wanner scored on the power play with 1:22 left in the game. The lead was short lived as the Broncos scored with 48 second left to tie the game.
“(Friday's) game, we played the two best periods we've played this year,” said Riley. “It was amazing and the boys played great. It's just we let them back in the third period. We've just got to make sure we play 60 minutes instead of just 40.”
Garton stopped 34 Broncos shots in the tie.
Next week, the Bruins have three games in three days as they travel to Regina Friday to play the Vics, Lumsden/Bethune Saturday against the Lions before returning home Sunday at 5:15 p.m. against the Capitals at Affinity Place.
