The Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins return to action at Affinity Place Friday night, to open a weekend home-and-home series with the division rival Melville Millionaires, in Estevan.
A Look at the Numbers
The Bruins enter play fourth in the Viterra Division and 10th overall in the SJHL standings with a 9-11-4 record through 24 games. The team enters the weekend eager to snap a three-game skid (0-2-1) and right the ship to get back in the playoff hunt, currently sitting five points back of eighth-place La Ronge while holding four games in-hand.
It’s a similar story at the other end, as the Millionaires enter the weekend third in the division and seventh overall at 13-12-3 through 28 games. The Mills are looking to snap a four-game skid of their own, currently sitting just two points up on both La Ronge and Kindersley, who occupy eighth and ninth overall.
Players to Watch
The weekend matchup will feature no shortage of top young talent, with three of the top four rookie goal scorers in the SJHL this season.
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Bruins’ forward Luke Hogan has been an offensive catalyst for the team all season, with 10 goals in just 17 games. That number is second amongst all freshman players this season, despite a seven-game injury absence last month. Hogan’s 0.59 goals per-game is also tops amongst all first-year players.
Melville’s Raiden Zacharias also has 10 goals, though his have come in 22 games, with a six-game absence from the Mills while called up to the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. Millionaires’ centerman Simon Parini sits just back of the pair in rookie goals with nine in 23 games, while largely centering his own line in Melville’s attack.
Special teams
The Bruins hold a slight edge on the power play clicking at 18.8 percent (seventh overall) to Melville’s 18.2 percent (ninth). However, it’s the Millionaires’ PK which stands out between the two, executing on 81.3 percent of their kills (fourth) to the Bruins’ 76.7 percent (11th).
Goaltending
It remains to be seen who will get the start for the Bruins to open the weekend, between workhorse Ben Polhill and newly-acquired netminder, Zach Shaughnessy.
If Polhill gets the nod it will mark his 11th straight start, having posted a 4-8-2 record through 16 games, to go along with a 3.46 goals against average and .896 save percentage this season. Shaughnessy is a 19-year-old who came over from BC’s Pacific Junior Hockey League earlier in the week, after playing three seasons with the Delta Ice Hawks whom he led to a PIJHL championship in 2023.
Melville is likely to start Nick Genette who has won three of his last four appearances. Genette has posted a 5-6-1 record in 14 games, with a 2.53 goals against average and .917 save percentage.
Friday’s game will be available on FloHockey and for free on the Bruins’ Official YouTube Livestream. The Room By Room Pregame Show will begin at 6:45 p.m. with puck drop to follow at 7 p.m.
For tickets to Friday’s game, click here.
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Attending Friday’s game? Make sure to pick up your tickets to the Bruins’ first-ever New Years Cabaret! To learn more about it, as well as the team’s merch booth set-up this weekend, click here!
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Marty Martinson, Bruins’ PxP & Marketing Director
On X: @MartyMartyPxP1
