The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins season came to a conclusion as they fell 5-2 to the Battlefords North Stars in Game 5 of their survivor series on March 12.
“It was one of those things where they got going pretty early, and they were able to get some breaks, and they were able to sustain a pretty high level of play. We just couldn’t answer,” head coach Chris Lewgood said.
The Bruins were trailing 4-0 in the third before they scored two straight goals. In the first half of the period, Taylor Ross lit the lamp, assisted by Nolan Nicholas. And in the second half of the period Brayden Pachal scored his first SJHL goal. Ross earned the helper.
Even though the Bruins were able to string a couple of goals in the third, Lewgood said that the team was still disappointed with the outcome.
“Our goal was to win the game, and we didn’t do that. Anytime you play, you can take small victories and things like that, but we came up short and there’s really no dressing it up,” he said.
With the season over for the Bruins, Lewgood said that overall it was a learning season for his team.
“I think it was full of ups and downs and we got to take some of that with us moving forward,” he said.
Lewgood mentioned this season was a transition period for the organization and the decisions they made early and throughout the year will help them out in the long run, but he still believed that the team had more in the tank this year.
“I believe we fell short of our goals and when we made some of the sacrifices we made this year in trades…we did so in believing in the guys that we maintained. I thought we could have got further in the playoffs this year than we did,” he said.
Going forward, Lewgood believes that the team is going to be higher in the standings than this year and believes that they have enough talent to be leaders in the SJHL. And once it is closer to the next season, they will build on more specific goals as the sky’s the limit for the team, he said.
Estevan will be hosting the 2016 Crescent Point Western Canada Cup and Lewgood said the Bruins will be a top competitor in the tournament.
“We wouldn’t have gone after that tournament if we didn’t think we could compete and win our way there, and we certainly think we have a good enough team coming in to do so,” he said.
The Bruins only have two players graduating from the team and the coach thinks the core of his team will be back for next season. The organization has also spent a lot of time and effort in recruiting for the next season, as they’ve made trades to solidify the roster, Lewgood said.
“What’s going to happen is, we’re going to have a whole lot of high-end hockey players going to come in and push the existing guys for their jobs, and we’re going to take the 23 best guys into the season, that we think can deliver us some success,” Lewgood said.
The Bruins’ two graduating players are RT Rice and Wyatt Garagan. Both have spent their SJHL careers in the Bruins organization.
Lewgood said both players brought a lot of character to the organization and that both leave the dressing room a better place than when they joined the team.
