One of the problems the Estevan Bruins have had in this young season is that they're fragile.
They've had some tough losses in the early going, and they've blown some leads late, and with still a relatively young group, that can take its toll mentally.
You need mental toughness to overcome adversity, and on Saturday against the Nipawin Hawks, the Bruins had lots of it.
It started before the third period when the Bruins lost their anchor, goalie Curtis Martinu, the man who's been the steady backbone of this club all year.
With him gone, and the Bruins relying on inexperienced rookie Travis Pelletier, the momentum changed quickly.
Martinu's five-minute match penalty didn't help, and before long the Hawks were within a goal. Then, in the blink of an eye, they were ahead.
It would've been easy to resign oneself to defeat after an emotional swing of events like that. And it certainly looked as if the Hawks had stolen the game with their third-period rally.
Turns out the Bruins hadn't given up on one point, or even two, after all. Even when they had to spend the end of the third period shorthanded.
Tyler Paslawski's clutch goal with three seconds left was one of several big ones he's scored over the last year, and the veteran right winger came through again with a classic garbage goal.
After overtime came and went, there was still the shootout to deal with, and Pelletier, who was seeing his first game action in six weeks, hadn't exactly been reassuring in the third period.
But he settled down, stopped two of three shooters and ensured that Nick Weiss's shootout goal stood up as the winner.
That shootout performance will serve as a valuable confidence boost for Pelletier, who has now been called to take on the starter's job temporarily after Martinu was suspended for three games.
Those three games are big ones, too, against division rivals Notre Dame (last night), Kindersley and Melville, so Pelletier needs to step up and play with some confidence after watching almost entirely from the bench so far this year.
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People often ask why Canadians are so interested in an American election. They often follow that up with, "Why aren't you that interested in your own country's' election?"
I'm a political junkie, so needless to say I'm glued to both elections.
It's a fascinating exercise watching the way U.S. elections work, that is, if you can survive the excessive buildup and the primaries.
It's certainly a very long process, and you wonder how the candidates have the energy and voice to finish strong when they're hitting three or four campaign stops a day all over the country.
Of course, large swathes of the nation tend to be ignored in that criss-crossing tour, since the electoral college setup means it's all about the swing states.
Since all of each state's electoral college votes go to one candidate or the other, and not split between the two, why spend time campaigning in a state that has always voted one way or the other?
If they've always leaned your way, then you likely don't need to worry about their votes, and if they lean the other way, you're probably wasting your time trying to convince them to switch allegiances.
It's the American version of Western Canadian voters feeling left out of the process.
Anyway, every media outlet I've paid any attention to is portraying it as a dead heat, with polls, for the most part, backing that up.
It won't be that close. Barack Obama hasn't been the kind of president people hoped he would be, but he certainly is no socialist and he won't take America's freedom away, or their guns away, or whatever other nonsense the Tea Party is spouting these days.
I'm generally a conservative, and I'd vote for Obama if I were an American citizen. I just can't get past Romney's lies and deception (and yes, Obama has done this as well, but it's not nearly as blatant.)
It blows me away how American politicians can get away with saying whatever the hell they want, no matter how untrue, without really being challenged by the media.
There are two Americas now, with two ideologies, and two sets of media.
Truth, sadly, has been killed in action.
Josh Lewis can be reached by phone at 634-2654, by e-mail at [email protected], on Twitter at twitter.com/joshlewis306 or on his Bruins blog at estevanmercury.ca/bruinsbanter. At least Columbus is relevant in the election.
