Hockey Season Is Almost Here

With a couple of days before the beginning of training camp, the majority of the Bruins have arrived in Estevan, as another season is upon us.

I decided to head down to the rink to say hello to the returning veterans who I haven't seen all summer. Guys like Cole Olson, Chris Daniels, Josh Jelinski, and Calder Neufeld. I also said hello to Derek Tendler who I haven't seen since he left Estevan on January of 2010.

Ryan Ostertag also stepped on the ice at Spectra Place for the first time, (I've seen Ryan a couple of times this summer. Once again thanks for the ride from the airport Oscar!)

Shea Cooper is the lone veteran not in Estevan, but he's expected to arrive tomorrow.

The Bruins will officially open up camp on Friday. I'll have a preview for the Bruins on the blog, some time on Friday as we begin to take a look at the 2011-12 season.

Q an A With Marco Ricci

During the Kraft Celebration Tour in Estevan, the entire country got a chance to find out how big of a role Marco Ricci has played in the development of football in Estevan over the past few years.

Ricci was featured in the video piece on TSN that talked about the growth of football in Estevan and the flooding that rocked the southeast this spring.

Ricci is entering his third year as Head Coach for ECS Elecs, as the Elecs are set to begin their season tomorrow as they head to Swift Current.

Just a note as well, I coach along Ricci as I'm in charge of the Defensive Line, so if you're wondering why I mention "my d-line" that's why.

Marcoricciaug31 by blaineweyland

Q and A with Lucas Stubel

Hockey players in Midget AAA, Junior A or College leagues are spending the next few days heading out to their hockey homes for the upcoming season.

Estevan's Lucas Stubel is heading to Briercrest College for the upcoming season and before he left, I had a few moments to chat with Stubel.

Stubel will also be making an appearance on Locker Talk this week, Thursday at 6:30 and Saturday at 12:00.


Lucas stubelaug30 by blaineweyland

A Crowded Crease For the Bruins

The Estevan Bruins crease got a little bit more crowded with the news Derek Tendler has been released from the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL.

Tendler was the starting goalie for the Bruins a couple of seasons ago when he was a 17 year old, before joining the Vancouver Giants in January of 2010. Tendler spent the majority of last season with the Broncos, Tendler spent time with the Regina Pats in 2009.

The Regina native is a great character to have in the locker room, and he definitely makes the goaltender position an interesting battle in training camp with 20 year old goalie Shea Cooper set to return.

With Cooper's performance in the postseason last year, I would think he would he have the edge heading into training camp. But with a new Head Coach in Keith Cassidy, that might not be the case.

The majority of the Bruins are expected to be arriving on Wednesday, except Cooper, he's expected in town on Thursday because of his flight from Ontario.

A Day to Remember in Estevan

The largest crowd in the TSN Kraft Celebration Tour history filled 4th Street Estevan to take part in the festivities. Around 2,500 people were on hand for the live Sportscentre, despite the temperature rising over 31 degrees.

Before the show started, Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole got up on the stage, sang some songs and danced along to tunes like Bon Jovi's Living On A Prayer, Journey's Don't Stop Believing and more.

The video piece TSN did with Estevan Minor Football and the flooding was unbelievable and it did a great job of capturing the events of the last 4 months in the Southeast.

As a coach with the ECS Elecs Football team, I was very happy to see Onrait and O'Toole put on the Elec jerseys and being carried off by the football team at the end of Sportscentre.


TSN sent a email to the Estevan Kraft Celebration Tour yesterday and it said that the Estevan stop on the tour was the greatest ever in it's history.

Everyone in Estevan give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done by showing the entire country your community spirit.

Estevan Minor Football kicks off their home schedule tomorrow with all three teams in action at the field by the High School, the games begin at 11:00.

Q And A With Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole

The Kraft Celebration Tour may be tomorrow, but the fun began in Estevan today. Jay Onrait, Dan O'Toole along with the rest of the TSN and Kraft Celebration Crew arrived in Estevan last night, and today they were actually put to work.

O'Toole and Onrait took part in the cleanup at Woodlawn Park in the morning. After lunch, the hilarious pair had some time to chit chat with me.

Following my interview with me, Onrait came out to the ECS Elecs football practice, while O'Toole took part in a race with the Estevan Motor Speedway.

Here's the audio from both Onrait and O'Toole, and honestly they might have been the two nicest guys I have ever met. I'll have more thoughts about the Tour tomorrow night.


Dan o'toole by blaineweyland

Jay onrait by blaineweyland

Quick Update from Bruins Land

Hockey season is almost here, the Estevan Bruins are getting ready for the season this week by holding a conditioning camp.

I did run into Bruins Head Coach Keith Cassidy and had a brief chat with him. He did say the Bruins are continuing to work on the locker room and no one is allowed to take a sneak peak of the locker room until it's finished.

I also talked briefly with Dominic Perrault, Michael Hengen and Eric Baldwin who were arriving for the evening's session. Other veterans attending the sessions are Dylan Smith and Matt Dochylo.

The Bruins open up training camp on Friday Septemeber 2.

Sunday Thoughts

I had an early start this Sunday since I was training the new guy, and it gives some time to write down my thoughts in the sporting world.

I was surprised the Roughriders fired Greg Marshall, but not at all surprised Doug Berry was removed as offensive coordinator. Obviously the Riders had to make changes with a 1-7 start, and really lacklustre efforts over the past two weeks against Calgary and Toronto. While the team played much better in the fourth quarters in both games, their play in the first half left much to be desired.

There's no doubt Marshall is still a great defensive coach, and I would bet he will get a job as a coordinator somewhere next season, and hopefully he will get another shot at being a Head Coach in the CFL.

Even with a 1-7 record, the Riders are very much in the playoff race right now, only 1 game back of BC. So yes I think there's time for the Riders to turn things around, and make it into the playoffs.


-- In local football, the ECS Elecs have begun their training camp and have been very impressive so far after a couple of practices. It's amazing to see how far this team has grown over the past three years. I believe a realistic goal for this team is to host (and win) a playoff game.

-- Only three more weeks until the NFL returns to Sunday. (YESSSSS!)

-- The UFC is heading to FOX in November, and as a MMA fan, I think it's fair to say the sport is here to stay. The TV deal won't affect Canadian viewers since the UFC is signed with Rogers Sportsnet. I wish Sportsnet would air the pre game and post game shows that FX will be airing for all the UFC events. Another plus with UFC signing with FOX, we'll be seeing more of Gus Johnson and Jay Glazer covering the UFC, and I think that's a good thing.

-- Less than two weeks until the Estevan Bruins begin training camp, I'm very anxious and looking forward to opening up Spectra Place on Saturday September 17. We'll be broadcasting the game on CJ1280 and hopefully we'll have an announcement about some additional coverage for that game in the coming weeks.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 30s all week, hopefully everyone enjoys the sunshine this week.

Kraft Celebration Tour Details

It's going to be a party in Estevan next week with the Kraft Celebration Tour visiting the Energy City. Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole will arrive in Estevan late Tuesday night after completing their visit to Kyle. Here's a rough schedule on what will be happening next Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday morning Onrait and O'Toole along with the ECS Elec players, Minor Football Players, and other volunteers will spend some time cleaning up the football field at Woodlawn Park that was damaged by the flooding this spring.


The fun on Thursday begins at 2:00 in front of the courthouse with the free Kraft BBQ, then festvities will begin on stage with MC Michael Ball. There will be local performers, including local artist Chris Henderson who has written a song about Estevan.

Frank McCrystal, the Head Coach of the U of R Rams will be making an apperance, as well the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Confirmed Riders making an appearance are Barrin Simpson, Hugh Charles, Neil Hughes, and Remond Willis. More Riders will be added to the list in the coming days, the Riders PR are going to wait for the team to come back from Toronto to see which players are sticking around Regina during the bye week. And the voice of the Riders, Rod Pedersen will be broadcasting Sportscage live from Estevan.

Sportscentre will begin at 4:00, but TSN wants everyone to be ready for 3:45. There will also be plenty of activities with the family and more details will be coming out on that in the coming days.

There may be more events added, but it's going to be a couple of busy but yet fun days in Estevan next week.

Bruins Schedule on CJ1280

Usually the Bruins coverage on CJ1280 begins at the conclusion of the World Series, but with the opening of Spectra Place on September 17, we'll be airing the special event.

There are 26 games on the CJ1280 schedule with all of the road games from November until the end of the regular season, along with 6 home games from Spectra Place. All of the home games will be webcasted online. Here's the schedule on CJ1280.

September 17 vs Melville

November 5 @ Melville

November 15 @ Notre Dame

November 25 @ Weyburn

November 28 @ Kindersley

November 29 @ Battlefords

November 30 @ Humboldt

December 4 @ Yorkton

December 6 @ Melville

December 9 @ Flin Flon

December 10 @ Flin Flon

December 11 @ Nipawin

December 16 @ Notre Dame (Watrous)

December 30 @ Weyburn

January 1 vs. Weyburn

January 6 @ Melfort

January 7 @ Nipawin

January 8 @ Humboldt

January 20 vs. Kindersley

February 2 @ Kindersley

February 3 @ Battlefords

February 4 @ Kindersley

February 10 vs. Kindersley

February 11 vs. Humboldt

February 17 @ Weyburn

February 18 vs. Weyburn

Who Should Wear the C For the Estevan Bruins?

In my three years with the Estevan Bruins, I’ve been pretty lucky to have dealt with three great Captains in Kyle Garagan, Colton McPherson and Troy Hunter. In less than a month we’ll find out who will be the first Bruins captain in the Spectra Place era.

Over the past couple of weeks I left a poll up to see who you would like to see as the captain for the upcoming season and the winner was “Other”, which could mean a combination of guys like Dylan Smith, Ryan Ostertag, Michael Hengen, Chris Daniels and Matt Dochylo. All of them I think are capable of wearing a letter, but I think at the end of the day it will either be Dominic Perrault, Josh Jelinski or Eric Baldwin who wears the C. Here are some reasons why those three players have a shot of being the captain.

Dominic Perrault.

Bruin fans saw the emergence of Dominic Perrault in the late stages of the 2010-11 season when Ty Ariss, Joel Kot and Lucas Stubel were out of the Bruins lineup with injuries. In the Survivor Series with Melville, Perrault came up huge in Game 5 as he scored two goals, including the overtime winner to send the Bruins into the second round of the post season. This season Perrault will be the number one d-man from Day 1, he’ll be counted on as the quarterback on the powerplay along with being the top shutdown d-man. Perrault has told me that he is looking forward to working with the young guys and is hopeful he can provide them with the leadership the Bruins will need this season.

Josh Jelinski

There is no doubt that Jelinski is the hardest working player on the Bruins roster, and quite honestly he might be the hardest working player in the entire SJHL. Jelinski became one of the Bruins top forwards late in the season as he skated on the top line with Mark Cross and Troy Hunter, and Jelinski showed his ability to deliver in the clutch as he scored in Game 1 of the overtime series with Melville. Jelinski will be the vocal leader of the Bruins, even last season as a rookie; Jelinski was one of the most vocal players on the Bruins roster.

Eric Baldwin:

Baldwin was the Bruins most improved player last season, after starting out as the Bruins 7/8 d-man, he ended in the top 4 and there’s no doubt Baldwin will enter the season as the Bruins #2 d-man. There were times last season when Baldwin would sit out long stretches, and even though Baldwin didn’t see much game action, he worked hard at practice and when his opportunity came with the injuries in January, Baldwin played so well that the Bruins coaches had no choice but to leave him in the lineup in the playoffs. Baldwin is probably the most well spoken Bruin player, and he is a great player to have represent your hockey team.

Conclusion:

I still find myself having a hard time picking a captain even though I’ve been thinking about this topic over the past few months. If I pick one player to be the favourite, I’ll say Perrault since he’s the only 20 year old player in the mix in my mind. Although with the Bruins core being the 1992 players, I think it would also be a great idea for the Captain to be a 92 player like Baldwin or Jelinski. No matter what, it will be a tough decision for Bruins Head Coach, Keith Cassidy in training camp.

I started a new poll question, who do you think will be the Bruins MVP this season.