Dylan Smith Explains Why He Left the Bruins for Connecticut

A couple of weeks ago Dylan Smith made the decision to leave the Estevan Bruins and play for the Connecticut Oilers of the EJHL.

Smith arrived in Connecticut this past weekend and has started his preparations for the upcoming season.

I had a chance to speak with Smith this afternoon and talked about why he decided to play in Connecticut this season, his goals for his hockey career, his memories of Estevan over the last three years and his linemates from last season in Cole Olson and Calder Neufeld.

Baldwin and Daku Ready for Hard Knocks 28

Derek Daku (left) and Wade Baldwin (right)

Hard Knocks 28 is just over two weeks away. It will be another action packed card with some of the best amateur MMA fighters in Canada. There will be 8 local fighters taking part on the card including Derek Daku and Wade Baldwin.

I had a chance to speak with both fighters about their upcoming bout.

Smith Heading to Connecticut

The leader scorer for the Estevan Bruins for two of the last three seasons won't be returning to the Bruins for the 2012-13 season.

Dylan Smith will be playing for the Connecticut Oilers of the Eastern Junior Hockey League this season.

Smith has been with the Bruins for the past three years. Last season he ended up with 37 goals and 37 assists and added a goal and 3 assists in the postseason.

I did talk to Smith briefly this afternoon. He arrived in Connecticut on the weekend and has started skating down there. I should have some audio on the blog sometime.

Where Does the Time Go?

It was back to the grind for yours truly today as my 18 day holiday came to an end yesterday. It was nice to get away for a couple of weeks and relax. Even though I was off for nearly three weeks, my break was pretty uneventful. I spent the majority of the time in Saskatoon-Humboldt, but I did manage to spend a few days up at Waskiseu. I did manage to get some golfing and fishing in on my time off.

Just a couple of things that are coming up in the Estevan sports scene. 

The football season has started in Estevan with the Minor teams playing in their first game last weekend and the Elecs begin the season on Friday with practice.  A special day for Estevan football will be taking place on September 8, there will be more details on that next week.

The Estevan Bruins will kick off their training camp on Friday September 7. Black and Gold game will be held on Sunday Sept.9. Regular season begins on Thursday September 20 in Melville.

Hard Knocks Fighting returns to Spectra Place on September 14.

I'm looking forward to getting ready with a busy fall season in sports.

Holidays

I forgot to make a post last week but right now I'm in the middle of a holiday break. For the most part this past week I was in Waskiseu where I got to enjoy some golf and beach weather. I'm off for another 11 days, so you probably won't see anything on the blog during that time.

But things will be very busy when I return to Estevan, the football season will be kicking off and the Bruins season will be a couple of weeks away. We're also launching a third radio station in Estevan in a few weeks which is very exciting.

So enjoy the summer and I'll talk to you in a couple of weeks.

Bruins To Run Conditioning Camp with Estevan Minor Hockey

To help the Estevan Minor Hockey Players get ready for the hockey season, the Bruins will be running conditioning camps on Aug. 20-23 and Aug.27-30. Registration deadline is Aug.13. Earlier this week I spoke to Bruins Head Coach Keith Cassidy about the camp and the Bruins relationship with Estevan Minor Hockey.

Orsted A Member of Team Sask. At Baseball's Canada Cup

Estevan's Austin Orsted will be competing in London, Ontario next week in Baseball's Canada Cup. Team Saskatchewan will open up against Team Manitoba on Wednesday.

Before Orsted left for Ontario I had a chance to speak with him.

Estevan's Michael Bittman Looking for a Bigger Role with the Regina Thunder

Former ECS Elecs  MVP Michael Bittman is entering his second season with the Regina Thunder this year. The Thunder started training camp last weekend and will be playing a preseason game this weekend in Yorkton.

Bittman has been busy training this offseason and is hoping to see some time on special teams and possibly at Middle Linebacker.

Bittman also tried out for the National U-19 team earlier this spring. While he didn't make the team, Bittman says it was a great learning experience.

Here's an interview I did with Bittman earlier this week. And thanks to his mom Bridget for the picture.