The Yorkton Terriers opened their season with a big win against the Weyburn Red Wings Saturday night, beating the Red Wings 5-2.
The first period saw both teams scoring a goal a piece, with Weyburn starting the scoring early. Keegan Bruce got the first goal, with Justin Dalebozik on the assist.
Soon after, Robbie Ciolfi answered back with a shorthanded goal, with Clark Breitkreuz and Devon McMullan helping out.
In the second, the Red Wings took the lead with a goal from Shawn Cowie, with Keegan Bruce and Ryan Whitell getting an assist on the score.
It was the third period where the Terriers really came on strong, with four unanswered goals, cementing the win. Zak Majkowski started the blitz with a power play goal, helped out by Devon McMullan.
Majkowski's goal opened the flood gates, with Drew McDermott, Clark Breitkreuz, and Riley Paterson all putting one in the net. Robbie Ciolfi, Rylan McDonell, Craig Eisenhut, Devon McMullan and Gary Rai were credited with assists on the last period's goals.
The Red Wings had no answer to the third-period scoring assault and the game ended with a score of 5-2 and a decisive Terriers win.
Terrier's coach Trent Cassan says that after the second period, he spoke to the team about calming down, which worked to help focus the team and lead to the strong finish.
"These guys have a lot of emotions and intensity and sometimes want to do too much. We were working hard but we weren't working smart," Cassan says.
Speed is one of the strengths of the Terriers this season, and Cassan says that the plan for the year is to use that speed and the players who can really take advantage of open ice, a strategy that clearly worked in the third period.
"We want to play an up tempo style and keep teams on their heels, but at the same time the guys know that they have to be smart defensively," Cassan says.
Leadership within the team has seen some changes, and Cassan says that the players with letters aren't the only ones who are a good influence, both in the dressing room and on the ice. However, Cassan feels as though defenceman Blaine Tendler was without a doubt the perfect choice for captain.
"With Tendler as captain, it was a pretty obvious choice going in with his experience in the Western league. He's a calming influence in the dressing room, keeps his emotions in check and does all the little things right," Cassan says.
The big win makes it harder to make roster changes, Cassan admits, as the entire team played to a high level.
"The guys tonight made it very hard on us to make the tough decisions. We talked about before the game that we wanted contributions from everyone in some capacity, and we certainly got that from all four of our lines in some areas of the game," Cassan notes.
The next Terrier's home game will be September 23 at 7:30 p.m.
