Special teams may have played the difference in the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins junior A hockey team’s 1-2-1 road trip, but it was poor play that started things off on the wrong foot.
The Bruins (5-3-0-1) began the four games in 65 hours schedule with a 5-1 loss to the Humboldt Broncos (3-2-1) at Elgar Peterson Arena Friday night and followed that up with a 4-3 loss to the Kindersley Klippers (3-2) at the West Central Events Centre a day later. The next afternoon, Estevan pulled out a 4-1 win against the La Ronge Ice Wolves (2-5-1) at the Warman Legends Arena in the first game of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) Showcase before falling 5-4 to the Battlefords North Stars (7-2) in the ninth round of a shootout the next morning, which was also played at Warman.
Against the Broncos, Estevan lost the special teams advantage by potting one power play goal compared to Humboldt’s one on the power play and one on special teams. In Kindersley, the Klippers scored two with the man advantage, while the Bruins failed to find the back of the net on their four chances. Against La Ronge, Estevan went two for five on the PP, while the Ice Wolves failed to score on special teams. Both Battlefords and Estevan knocked in one with the man advantage in their match.
Chris Lewgood, head coach and general manager of the Estevan Bruins, said it is no coincidence the results on special teams mask the final outcomes of each game. He said if they would have eliminated the undisciplined penalties in the four games they would have enjoyed a better result.
Lewgood added that obviously they want to win each game and get the two points, but it was their play that caused him the greatest concern against Humboldt. He said the effort his team showed versus the Broncos was weak.
“I thought the guys skated around really hard, but as far as following the game plan and playing together as a unit we weren’t very good,” said Lewgood, noting they played much better the next night against Kindersley even though they suffered the same fate. “The La Ronge game was sort of similar to the Kindersley (one) expect we eliminated some of the first period mistakes that we made in the Kindersley game and we played just a shade more consistently. Then in the Battlefords game (Monday) we were very excited, very happy for the effort we had considering it was the fifth game in six days.”
In addition to the five games, those six days brought a number of changes to the Bruins roster. After picking up defencemen Bret Schwengler and Ross Hnidy and forward Zach Goberis late last week as well as releasing rearguard Kobe Eagletail, the Bruins moved 1996-born defenceman Taylor Armbruster to the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Cochrane Crunch Thursday for future considerations.
Lewgood said Hnidy and Armbruster play the same type of game, making the less-polished Armbruster expendable. He said they have also added 1997-born forward Jake Fletcher, who was reassigned from the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos on Monday.
On the injury front, backup goaltender Tyler Gutenberg (pulled groin) and forward Darcy DeRoose (suspected concussion) are out of the lineup for an undetermined amount of time.
In a matter somewhat related to the Bruins, a former defenceman with the team, Jake Tesarowski, has found his way back into the SJHL after electing to suit up for the British Columbia Hockey League’s West Kelowna Warriors this season. Tesarowski played four games with the Bruins over the past two years before signing with the Warriors. He was traded to the Melville Millionaires Oct. 2.
“We knew there was a very good chance that the team that he went to in B.C. was going to trade him back to the SJHL and we saw it coming basically,” said Lewgood. “There is a tendency for these guys to think the grass is greener on the other side. They are given some of the statistics in the BCHL with scholarships (and told) that they have to go out there to get those opportunities and ultimately are taken advantage of. Not every team certainly, but some teams over-recruit and then sell players back and then use it as an investment. So that’s what happened with Jake.”
