When first-year Bruins’ forward, Carter Onrait scored his first career SJHL goal Wednesday, it was a big play within the context of the game.
Serving as the eventual game winner, in what was a 5-3 Bruins’ win in Humboldt, the goal also marked the third power play strike of the night for an Estevan man advantage that’s suddenly amongst the league’s hottest of late.
However, more than that, the goal marked a significant milestone for the 18-year-old he’s been working towards for as long as he can remember, from his earliest days of minor hockey in the Estevan community, growing up attending Bruins’ games.
“I remember when I was young, coming out to be the 7th man for the Bruins, and now I’m playing for the Bruins which is really surreal, so I couldn’t be happier,” Onrait said as a smile crept across his face.
Working his way up through the local hockey ranks from two seasons of U15 AA to another three with the U18 AAA Bears, Onrait’s totals continued to climb, culminating in a team-high 27 goals and 51 points in 44 games last season, as captain of the AAA club.
While he had received a taste of SJHL action with seven games as a call-up to the Bruins over the past two seasons – even registering an assist for his first point last year – it’s the first goal that really signals his arrival at the Junior A level as a regular with the team this year.
Onrait’s milestone tally came on a tremendous effort attacking the net in the third, to bunt home a Cade Kennedy rebound – out of midair – from the crease.
“There was a big scrum in the corner and all of Humboldt’s players were kind of puck watching when it popped out to Kennedy,” Onrait recalled of the play postgame. “He rips the puck, and it just goes straight in the air [off the goalie’s save] and was coming down about an inch from the goal line, so I gave it a whack and put it home.
“It’s definitely not how I would have pictured it, but I’ll take it,” he added with a laugh. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life basically, playing for the Bruins now and getting my first one, so it feels great.”
Adding to the moment was the team securing the victory to claim their second straight win, with points now in three straight. Onrait attributes the team’s recent success to their growing camaraderie off the ice.
“I think everyone really coming together, everyone’s getting closer and closer every day and hanging out away from the rink and becoming way better friends and that’s translating [on-ice],” he said. “We were having trouble scoring goals but everything’s starting to click more and more, the power play’s getting better every day and it’s exciting.”
The Bruins will return to action this weekend when the team travels to Kindersley for back-to-backs with the Klippers Friday and Saturday night. Both games will be available on FloHockey and online via the NEW Bruins’ YouTube Livestream. The Room By Room Furniture Pregame Show will begin at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.
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Marty Martinson, Estevan Bruins PxP & Marketing Director
On X: @MartyMartyPxP1