The Red Wings notched two wins out of three preseason games over the weekend. On Friday at Crescent Point Place, the Wings lost in over-time 3-2 against the Notre Dame Hounds.
The Red Wings notched two wins out of three preseason games over the weekend.
On Friday at Crescent Point Place, the Wings lost in over-time 3-2 against the Notre Dame Hounds. On Saturday they took on Estevan and defeated the Bruins 4-3, then on Sunday afternoon they defeated the Hounds in Wilcox 6-3.
Coach Dwight McMillan said he put more stock in the Sunday win in Wilcox than he did the previous games because he iced a lineup similar to the one they plan to start the season with.
"Sunday was more of a test to actually put some lines together and see what we have. Notre Dame is always ahead of the rest of the league to start the season because they are a boarding school and only bring in a number of players. They start their systems early," said Red Wings coach Dwight McMillan.
"We were going in there (Notre Dame) playing three games in three nights and I thought we controlled the game," he said.
In the 3-2 overtime loss on Friday night to the Hounds, McMillan was happy with the team's play but said the team started slow and got better as the game went along.
Heading into overtime the Wings had an unfortunate penalty, which continued in the extra frame. The Hounds capitalized on the four-on-three power-play and got the win.
On Saturday night against Estevan the team was led by Miguel Pereira, who had two goals and an assist in the 4-3 win.
"On Saturday night I thought we played well against Estevan. We worked real hard to get that win, (while) we were using a lot of different players," he said.
On Monday the Red Wings cut down their roster from 31 to the 25 players they plan to start the regular season with. They reduced down to 14 forwards and nine defencemen.
Brett Teskey, who was the backup goaltender last season will be the starter this season.
The remaining two goaltenders on the roster will "have to fight it out to be the back-up," said McMillan.
McMillan has yet to name a team captain, but believes the team doesn't lack leadership. He in particular has been impressed with Teskey's leadership qualities this season.
"Teskey alone is a great leader, he is a team player and when your goaltender is a team player it makes a world of a difference."
Returning forward Miguel Pereira, and Brendan Wilde, who played for the Sicamous Eagles last season, had a productive pre-season playing together, but McMillan plans to separate the two players to spread the scoring through the lineup.
Last year Pereira was a point- per-game player, scoring 23 goals and 43 points in 39 games. Wilde had 37 points in 50 games for the eagles.
The Red Wings will open the season on the road in Yorkton on Friday, against the Terriers. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
Coach McMillan expects it to be a tough early test.
"Yorkton is always a big aggressive hockey club. They know how to play in their rink. Their ice is slow, so it is a lot of dump the puck out and dump the puck in type of hockey," said McMillan.
Because the Canadian Student Leadership Conference is taking over Crescent Point Place from Sept. 24-29, the Wings will play their first five games on the road. They play Tuesday in Melville, at 7:30 p.m.
