It’s tough to judge the progress of a team when they play a winless squad like the Moose Jaw Warriors, but the Estevan TS&M Bruins will take the 6-0 victory anyway.
The Bruins (9-14-2-1) won the game Sunday at Affinity Place against the Warriors (0-24-0-0), who have been outscored 229-24 this season.
“We’ll take it,” said Bruins head coach Tom Copeland. “We’re trying to find ourselves again and I think we haven’t had a real good week at practice. We need to put a lot more compete in our practice this week and hopefully that can help reset who we are. We’ll take the win.”
The Bruins led 1-0 after the first on a goal by Kaden Chrest 56 seconds into the game. But they didn’t open the floodgates until midway through the second period, when Turner McMillen, Kieran Stewart, Clay McKersie and Tayce Miller scored in succession. Chrest scored his second of the game in the third period to round out the scoring, as Jackson Miller picked up the shutout in net for the Bruins, stopping 21 Moose Jaw shots.
“We should pump that team 12-0,” Copeland said. “We haven’t had a lot of compete in our practices and it shows out there. You don’t see that… we’re either thinking too much or slow to attack.”
McMillen set a team record by playing in his 72nd career regular season and playoff game with the Bruins. If he plays out the regular season, he’ll set the league’s games record.
“This year it’s been a struggle for him because he hurt his wrist early on but he’s been playing through it,” Copeland said. “Last year, we buried that kid defensively so he was 200 feet away from the offensive zone before he started…
“It’s an inner hand injury, so if he can get that corrected for himself, he’s a step above.
Saturday, the Bruins lost 5-1 at Affinity Place to the Regina Monarchs (15-7-1-1). Stewart scored the lone goal for the Bruins. Zane Winter stopped 38 of 43 shots in the Bruin net.
“We’ve got to be better than that,” Copeland said. “For us to be successful, our leadership group has to be successful.”
The Bruins received banners and a plaque from the Warriors before the game to recognize assistant coach Mike Sarada, who died earlier this month.
“We didn’t expect it,” Copeland said. “The whole league reached out for Mike. I guess the people that he touched are everywhere, and that’s just indicated by that. That’s a classy bunch and I’m very thankful to them for doing that.”
The Bruins’ next action is Saturday in Regina against the Aces (10-11-4-0).
