The A-side and B-side finals of the Estevan Blue Sky Air atom AA Bruins home tournament at Affinity Place on Sunday featured a hockey turning point for each of its two champions.
The Bruins led off the action with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Regina Cougars to capture the B-side title. The Minot Wolves answered shortly after in the headliner besting the Weyburn Wings 4-3 in a tight defensive battle between the two 49th parallel rivals.
Sean Dunn, head coach of the Wolves, said the tournament was their first game action of the season, but he’s not surprised with the team’s 2-1 tournament round-robin record and eventual A-side win. He said the minor hockey program in Minot has come a long way over the past five or six years in teaching their young players a better skill level and the atom team is a good example of the hard work their kids put in to achieve positive results.
Minot ran a persistent attack off the start against the Wings continually getting pucks down low and battling through traffic for shots in close, but a strong defensive effort by Weyburn kept their opponent at bay. The Wings controlled the play to begin the second period and capitalized on their momentum 12:51 in on a wrist shot by Justin Whitrow that beat Wolves goalie Blays Ostrom high blocker side.
Wolves defenceman Coen Schmiechel got his club on the board less than four minutes later by jamming in a Mackley Morelli rebound, which Morelli followed a minute later with a marker of his own. Both teams exchanged goals to end the second frame, but it was Minot that controlled the play in the third period continually pressuring the Wings' defence deep in their own zone leading to an Adam Roedocker score 8:30 in that would prove to be the winner.
“We’ve got kids who only have one year of full ice, so trying to teach them to forecheck is a little tough,” said Dunn. “But they’re quick learners. They’re real eager and I think they worked hard especially on the forecheck.”
The Bruins entered their home tourney with an 0-2-1 record in the South East Minor Hockey League with the two early season losses and a late October tie all coming on the road. The Black and Gold turned the page quickly at Affinity Place beating the Regina Panthers 9-1 on Friday before tallying a 7-3 win over the Regina Shamrocks and an 8-5 loss to the Wolves on Saturday.
Estevan’s Jayden Kuckinka followed that success 18 seconds into the B-side final blasting a shot past Cougars goalie Jaidyn Shaw. After Payton Phillips made it 2-0 early in the second period, the Cougars came alive notching four straight goals on Bruins netminder Tyler Piper before Estevan captain Carter Onrait replied with 39 seconds remaining to pull his club within one heading into the final 20 minutes.
“Playing at home adds another dimension sometimes for the boys,” said Bruins head coach Chuck Lang. “We just talked about the fact that we needed to grind it out, win the third period and if we could come out on top doing that we’d be coming out with a win.”
Bruin Conrad Hase scored the equalizer 3:13 into the third period poking in an Onrait rebound from the top of the crease. Both teams stepped up the action following the goal with each generating quality scoring chances including a shorthanded breakaway by Shea McNabb where he attempted to go low stick side only to have Shaw drop the pad for the save. Logan Lang notched the winner with 3:43 remaining by firing a shot from the bottom of the circle far side off a break down the wing.
“The boys are definitely excited,” said coach Lang. “We’ve got a fairly young team this year that hasn’t necessarily played a ton of AA hockey, so they’re all excited to get a win under their belt.”
