The entire Estevan TS&M bantam AA Bruins team had an off game despite gaining a 5-4 win over the Regina Aces at Affinity Place on Friday, noted their head coach.
“We didn’t play well,” said Bruins coach Tom Copeland. “I don’t even know how to describe it. It was just one of those games when all of our kids just didn’t have it. They weren’t getting to their spots. They weren’t playing with the right attitude. And they know it. They’ve got to be better than that.”
The Bruins’ Jake Palmer got the home side up early with a low shot from the faceoff circle that trickled through Aces goaltender Joshua Babcock 30 seconds into the game.A slapshot from the boards low in the Aces zone by Liam Rutten found the back of the net a little under eight minutes later to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead that carried over into the second period.
Rod Benroth, an assistant coach with the Regina Aces, said their success comes from being aggressive, physical and hard on the puck with a devotion to finishing their checks, but their players didn’t exhibit that in the first period. He said they played off the body and were trying to do too much with their sticks in the first 20 minutes, but they refocused during the first intermission and came back strong in the final two periods.
Aces’ forward Skyler Sangster got Regina on the board a little under four minutes into the second by shovelling the puck past a Bruins defender in the offensive zone to set himself up for a chance in close alone on Estevan netminder Morgan Wanner where he proceeded to deke glove side before potting the puck low into the opposite corner. The Bruins’ Dalton Schrader knocked in a power play marker off a goalmouth scramble less than two minutes later, before Regina replied with a goal of their own on the man advantage when centre Eric Pearce rifled home a shot from the faceoff circle at the 8:35 mark. Less than a minute later, the Aces scored a second power-play goal on a Sebastian Eger slapshot from the point to make the score 3-3.
The third period, like the previous two, saw a steady parade to the penalty box by both teams, but it was a five-on-five marker from the Bruins’ Cale Adams off a picked off point shot in front of Babcock that he carried across the crease and put in low stick side that got Estevan a 4-3 lead halfway through the third. Bruins’ defenceman Dylan Hull made the score 5-3 just 46 seconds later on a shot from the point that found the back of the net. The Aces put the Bruins on their heels after Hull’s goal and made the score a one-goal game with 1:45 left on Sangster’s second goal off a beautiful pass through two defenders by Pearce, but that would be as far as they would get.
“He’s probably one of the top five (bantam-age skaters) in the province,” said Benroth about Pearce. “He’s going to be a high draft pick for sure in this year’s WHL draft. He’s a pleasure to coach and a pleasure to watch. He never gives up. He keeps on trying. He’s always got the puck on his stick.”
Copeland said the Aces (6-5-2) rely on Sangster and Pearce to create scoring opportunities every second shift and they tried to focus in on them during the game, but a poor penalty kill let them get on the board. He said the inconsistent job calling penalties by the officials added to their frustrations and took the flow right out of the game in the final two periods.
“The first period was great,” said Copeland. “The second period it slowed right down to a snail’s pace and then it just carried over into the third. Those are hard hockey games to both play in and watch.”
Next up for the Bruins (12-3-4) is a trip to Prince Albert this weekend where the team will face off against some of the best competition they will see this year outside of Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League (SBAAHL) play. Copeland said a number of bantam AAA teams from Alberta as well as a number of SBAAHL squads will compete in Prince Albert and it is the only tournament other than the showcase weekend in Regina that they will play in this year.
“It’s right where we need to be right now,” he said. “It’s going to be a good challenge for our guys and they need it. They need to go up there and we’re on a bit of a roll right now, but we need that challenge and it will be (one). We’re not favourites going in there despite our record. We have to go in there and earn everything we get. It’ll be fun.”
