The Estevan TS&M bantam AA Bruins are not taking their first round bye in the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League playoffs sitting down.
Tom Copeland, head coach of the Bruins, said a bye week has to be managed correctly in order to keep the players sharp because the team they’ll face in the second round will be on a roll and have some playoff games under their belt already. He said the Bruins’ younger players have also only played one hockey game this month due to the Saskatchewan Hockey Association SaskFirst Bantam Zone Camps cancelling out game play the weekend of Feb. 5 to 7 and they’ll need to be ready to go.
“We’ll have some pretty intense practices here this week,” said Copeland. “We’ve got three of them scheduled. We’ve got to keep the competition level high. That’s critical. It’s a challenge for us as coaches to try and keep them sharp and ready to go.”
The Bruins (18-8-4) enter the bye week after winning their final game of the regular season 7-1 over the Melville Millionaires (2-26-2) at a packed Carnduff Centennial Arena on Sunday. Copeland said the club had locked up second place in the standings a few weeks ago, but the players have continued to give it their all on the ice.
“The top five teams in our division get a bye, so we knew by Christmas time that we were probably going to be sitting on a bye week,” he said, noting they’ll begin play in the second round the week of Feb. 22. “We have been preparing for it, but it doesn’t make it any less challenging.”
