The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins and their Highway 39 rival Weyburn Red Wings will get plenty of opportunities to get to know each other next season.
The Bruins and Red Wings will meet 10 times in 2016-17, which is a two-game increase from the previous Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season. These matchups are all home and home series and will include their annual Dec. 30 and Jan. 1 meetings with the Red Wings coming to Affinity Place for the first game and the Bruins heading to Crescent Point Place for the New Year’s Day showdown.
“We look forward to the games against Weyburn big time,” said Ryan Gobeil, the new Bruins director of operations and marketing. “Growing up in Humboldt we obviously had different rivals, but I’m pretty pumped to be back in the hockey scene and I’m looking forward to be a part of that.”
Gobeil, who will manage events, sponsorship and marketing for the Bruins, said the game he’s looking forward to the most is the home opener on Sept. 17 against the Melville Millionaires. He said fans of the Black and Gold can get their tickets for the home opener, the five games against Weyburn at Affinity Place and the Bruins remaining 22 home dates right now by purchasing season tickets, which went on sale Monday and includes an Ambassador Program special for previous season ticket holders.
“With our Ambassador Program anybody who held a season ticket in the 2015-16 season will have the opportunity to receive this coming year’s season tickets for free,” said Gobeil, who completed event, sponsorship and marketing work for the University of Regina Cougars before moving to the Bruins. “So what they have to do to get it for free is they have to recruit three new season ticket members who have not previously held season tickets or didn’t have them last year. Basically what this does for us is we’re hoping to get more season ticket holders, get some more butts in the seats (and) we all know more fans in the building the louder it is and the better the boys will play.”
