The Estevan Bruins and Weyburn Red Wings completed their four-game preseason series on Halloween weekend with both teams now ready for the start of the 2020-21 SJHL Regular Season on November 6th.
Last weekend, the Bruins were able to come away victorious in both preseason games with wins of 6-3 and 3-0 over the Red Wings. This past weekend, the home team skated away with wins as the two teams split their final two preseason games.
FRIDAY – Bruins lose 5-2 in Weyburn
The Red Wings started the game with more urgency after being swept the previous weekend, and took it to the Bruins in the 1st period. Weyburn outshot the Bruins 12-5 in the opening period and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Weyburn extended the lead to 4-0 after two periods. The Bruins scored twice in the final frame, with a Red Wings empty net goal scored in between, to round out the scoring at 5-2 for Weyburn. Quintin Loon-Stewardson, playing his first game with Estevan after being acquired in a trade during the week, dropped the gloves with Weyburn’s Matthew Reidy at the start of the 3rd period.
SATURDAY – Bruins win 6-4 in Estevan
The Bruins came out on the right side of a back-and-forth offensive outburst on Saturday night, scoring twice in the 3rd period to defeat Weyburn 6-4 in the preseason finale. Cole Fonstad scored his first goal with the Bruins to open the scoring with Troy Hamilton scoring from behind the goal line in the corner in the final seconds to put the Bruins up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
Weyburn would take a brief 3-2 lead in the 2nd period before Cody Davis and Kade McMillen scored 1:05 apart to put the Bruins up 4-3. However, the Red Wings evened the score at 4-4 with 30 seconds left in the middle frame. Then just 7 seconds into the 3rd period, Quintin Loon-Stewardson would win the draw forward and then finish off a quick passing play to give Estevan a 5-4 lead. Devan Harrison added an insurance marker and the Bruins held off a late Weyburn push with the empty net for the 6-4 victory. Also in the 3rd period, defenceman Austin King-Cunningham dropped the gloves with J.D. Hall and got the decisive win in the tilt.
The Bruins will now turn their attention towards the start of the regular season where they are scheduled to face the Melville Millionaires on opening weekend: Friday, Nov. 6th in Melville and Saturday, Nov. 7th in Estevan. In the meantime, the coaching staff will be making roster decisions as all SJHL teams will need to trim a few players off their roster before the regular season.
Off the ice, the SJHL and their 12 teams are still awaiting word from the Ministry of Health on attendance capacity for the start of the regular season. Preseason games were played with a maximum of 150 spectators in all arenas, however it has yet to be confirmed if that number will rise and what number or percentage it will rise to for regular season games.
Fans are encouraged to keep a close eye on the Estevan Bruins’ Facebook/Twitter/Instagram pages for the latest updates as they become available. Until then, the Bruins are unable to provide more information on Season Ticket Holders, seating locations, tickets for the public, and other game-related items.