Bruins Unable to Clinch Playoff Spot With Loss to Broncos

The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins were unable to clinch a playoff spot as they were defeated by the Humboldt Broncos 3-2.

The Broncos scored first on the powerplay to gain the early lead but then the Bruins would storm back as Dylan Smith blocked and took the puck and buried a shot pass the glove of Matt Hrinkiw to tie the game at 1-1.

A few minutes later the Bruins would go on to the powerplay and the familiar trio of Smith, Cole Olson and Smith connected on the powerplay as Olson found Smith in front and he scored his 13th goal of the season to get the Bruins the lead after the first period.

In the second period the goal came from the Broncos as scramble left Brandon Tidy alone in front with a tap in goal to tie the game at 2-2.

In the final period the game was decided 3:43 into the period as a bad turnover inside of the Bruins zone left Tidy a short breakaway as he beats Bruins Goalie Curtis Martinu on the glove side as the Broncos would go on to hang to the victory.

Martinu made 25 saves in the loss while the Bruins powerplay was 1 for 3.

The Bruins are back in action tomorrow night when they host the Kindersley Klippers on CJ1280 and discoverestevan.com beginning at 5:50.

Bruins Alumni Audio Ben Findlay & Chris Stubel and Audio From Morrison Cote and Neufeld

A little behind with posting the audio but during last weekend games I had interview with former Bruins Ben Findlay and Chris Stubel. Here's the full interview with Findlay which lasted about 16 minutes, it was pretty much a couple of guys sitting reliving the old days.


                                                                    Ben Findlay



Here's the interview with my birthday brother Chris Stubel





   

And after the Bruins win on Monday I had a chat with the line of Hudson Morrison Alex Cote and Calder Neufeld
                    

Bruins End Trip With Huge Win over Northstars

The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins saved their best effort for last as they defeated the Battlefords Northstars 5-2.

The Bruins made plenty of changes to their lines before the game and the changes seem to spark the Bruins. One change was Brett Lewchuk being called up from the Saskatoon AAA Midget Blazers getting the start in net for the Bruins. The Bruins and Northstars were scoreless until 26 seconds remaining in the period when Matt Brykaliuk and Dylan Smith emerged with a 2 on 1 and Brykaliuk's shot left Smith a big rebound as the Bruins took a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, the Northstars came back to tie it up at 1-1 35 seconds into the period, but the Bruins would respond a couple of minutes later as Brykaliul scored from a tough angle and the Bruins grabbed a 2-1 lead. The Bruins would add to their lead as Calder Neufeld scored his first goal since the third game of the season on the powerplay to extend their lead to 3-1. Shortly afterwards Hudson Morrison would outhustle the Northstar defenders and would score on the breakaway to give the Bruins the 4-1 lead. The Northstars would pull Goalie Casey Parker and Connor Creech would go in net. The move seemed to spark the Northstars as they scored at the end of the period to make it 4-2.

But the Bruins would win the third period as Morrison finished  off a 2 on 1 rush to score his second of the game and his 20th of the season to make the final 5-2.

It was a big night for the Morrison-Neufeld-Alex Cote line. Neufeld had a goal and a pair of assists, Cote had a pair of assists. Brett Blatz had a pair of assists and played solid inside of his own end. Lewchuk made 38 saves to pick up the win in his SJHL debut.

The Bruins are now off until Friday when they meet the Humboldt Broncos. You can catch the game on CJ1280 and discoverestevan.com beginning at 7:20.

*Audio to come later with Keith Cassidy and the Neufeld-Morrison-Cote line later today

Bruins Drop Second Straight in Kindersley

It was a much better effort from the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins last night in Kindersley but it ended in the same result as the Klippers picked up a 4-2 win over the Bruins.

The Bruins started off strong in the opening 10 minutes controlling the majority of the play inside of the Klippers zone but were unable to solve Tyrell King. The Klippers were able to get on the scoreboard with just over 5 minutes remaining in the period as Giovanni Bombini scored on a loose rebound to give the Klippers the early lead. The Klippers lead would last only about a minute as Dylan Smith scored his 10th goal of the season to draw the Bruins even at 1-1.

Kindersley would move ahead 40 seconds later as Stefan Seel scored on another loose rebound. Then with 48 seconds a mad scramble in front of the Bruins Curtis Martinu ended with Colton Schick scoring to give the Klippers a 3-1 lead after one.

The Bruins came back with a solid second period effort with Zach Douglas scoring his second goal of the season as he finished off a 3 on 2 rush to cut the lead to 3-2. The Bruins came within inches of tying the game as Tyler Kauk's shot hit the post. The Bruins headed into the second intermission down 3-2.

But in the final period it was the Klippers getting the only goal as Bombini would add his second of the night to make the final 4-2 for Kindersley.

The Bruins now trail the Klippers by 5 points for 4th spot in the Sherwood Conference. The Bruins lead the Weyburn Red Wings by 6 points for the final playoff spot in the Sherwood Conference. The Bruins wrap up their road trip tonight in Battlefords with the pregame show beginning at 7:20.

Bruins Drop Opener of Road Trip

The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins got off to a rough start on their road trip as they were defeated by the Kindersley Klippers 6-1.

The Klippers opened the scoring 11 seconds into the game as Austin Yano's rush left the puck in front of the net and Beau Stewart scored to make it 1-0. The Klippers would extend their lead 3-0 after scoring a pair of goals 26 seconds apart late in the first period to lead 3-0.

In the second period the Klippers would make it 4-0 early in the second period. One sign that it wasn't Bruins night was evident on the Klippers 5th goal as Leighton McLachlan delievered a big hit on Stewart but the puck would go on to the stick of D Jay McGrath and he buried a shot past Martinu. The Klippers would add to their late to make it 6-0.

In the third period the Bruins would come back to add as Tyler Paslawski scored a late goal to make the final 6-1.

The Bruins will meet the Klippers tomorrow night with a pregame show at 5:50 on CJ1280 and discoverestevan.com.

Another Heated Battle With Bruins and Hawks as Nipawin wins 1-0

The CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins and the Nipawin Hawks have developed a very heated rivalry over the past years and last night was another example. The Bruins were defeated by the Hawks 1-0. 

There was plenty of physicality in the first period as the Bruins Leighton McLachlan stepped up with a big hit on the Hawks Garrett Lockeridge. Moments after the hit the two players dropped the mitts which set the tone for the evening.

Late in the first period McLachlan delievered another crushing hit on Lockeridge as McLachlan caught him with his head but this time the referees called a hit to the head penalty with less than 2 minutes remaining in the period.

With 11 seconds left in the period, Taylor Balog deflected a shot from the point and scored for Nipawin to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

Despite a heartbreaker to end off the first period, the Bruins came back strong in the second period as they dominated the shot 14-4 and several quality opportunities but were unable to score.

The third period was much of the same as the Bruins had opportunites to tie the game but were either denied by the Hawks Jordan Liem or they would have a shot trickled wide of the net. The line of Hudson Morrison, Darcy DeRoose and Tyler Paslawski had a strong game with opportunities but were unable to capitalize.

At the end of the game the two teams began to do some pushing and shoving inside of Nipawins end which lead to even more pushing and shoving in front of the players bench. This lead to altercation between Hawks Head Coach Doug Johnson and Bruins Assistant Coach Cole Zahn. Bruins Head Coach Keith Cassidy said it appeared that Johnson was talking to the Bruins players after the game and Zahn took exception to what was said and confronted Johnson.

In regards to the game Cassidy said it was one of the best efforts he has seen from the Bruins over the past couple of years.  He said the Bruins a lot of things right including defensive play inside of their own zone, they moved the puck out, they had speed through the neutral zone, they were forechecking and they had great chances. But Cassidy said sometimes you can do everything right but not end up in the right side of the scoresheet.

The Bruins remain one point back of the Kindersley Klippers for 4th spot in the Sherwood Conference. The Bruins will meet the Klippers in back to back games this weekend starting on Saturday in a game you can catch on CJ1280 and discoverestevan.com beginning at 7:20.

Bruins Salvage Point in OT Loss to Yorkton

It wasn't a pretty game as the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins hosted the Yorkton Terriers last night. But the Bruins managed a single point after they were defeated by the Terriers 2-1 in overtime.

Yorkton opened the scoring in the first period with Nathan Murray scoring on his third opportunity as the Terriers grabbed the lead through the first period.

There wasn't any scoring in the second period, but the Bruins had their chances, the Bruins had about 5 minutes of powerplay time including a 1:03 on a 5 on 3. But the Bruins didn't register too many opportunites on the extra man advantage and found themselves down by one heading into the third period.

After a slow start, the pace began to pick up and the Bruins Wyatt Garagan drove to the net with a shot which left a rebound for Matt Brykaliuk who scored to tie the game up at 1-1. Garagan was playing in his first game back since January 1 after being out with an elbow injury.

The Bruins had the best opportunity to win the game late in the third as the puck took a funny bounce in front and left Dylan Smith with an empty net but a Terrier defender came back and managed to get a stick on Smith's shot to allow it to go wide and forced the game into overtime.

In overtime as the Terriers were moving into the Bruins Nick Egan and Yorktons Curtis Oliver got tangled up in the neutral zone which some fans thought could be either interference penalty. But the Terriers Jeremy Johnson broke in and scored the overtime making the final 2-1.

The Bruins moved a point ahead of Kindersley with the the overtime loss and with Weyburn's loss the Bruins moved 7 points ahead of their Highway 39 rivals for a playoff spot.

Next action for the Bruins is tomorrow when they host Nipawin.

Smith Wins Player of the Week Award Again

He hasn't been back with the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins for a full month yet, but Dylan Smith has won the Canalta Hotels Player of the Week Award for a second time.

Smith started the week with a goal and an assist on Tuesday night during a win over Notre Dame.  He ended the week with four goals and one assist in Saturday’s victory over Melfort.  He now has nine goals and seven assists in just nine games overall.

Along with Smith, Tyler Kauk has won Defenceman of the Week this year, Darcy DeRoose has won Rookie of the Year and Curtis Martinu has won Goalie of the Week.

Smith's Four Goals Lead Bruins to Win

It was another second period comeback for for the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins as they defeated the Melfort Mustangs 6-3.

The Bruins had a tough start as the Mustangs at 5:12 mark a puck ricocheted off a couple of skates and bounced off Zach Douglas skate and in the Bruins net to make it 1-0. The Mustangs would get on a 5 on 3 at the 10:20 mark and Godric Tham would score to extend the Mustangs lead to 2-0.

Estevan would get on the scoreboard as Dylan Smith scored his first of the evening as received a great pass from Leighton McLachlan and Smith had a short breakaway and buried a backhand top shelf to cut the score to 2-1 but before the end of the period Blake Sloan would take advantage of a Bruins turnover inside of their own zone and make it 3-1 after the opening 20 minutes.

The Bruins would turn things around in the second period as Matt Brykaliuk scored on a loose rebound to cut the lead to 3-2. With a minute remaining in the period, Smith's pass deflected off of Hudson Morrison and went into the net to tie the game up at 3-3 after the first two periods.

The Bruins would get on the powerplay early in the third period for the first time of the game in the opening minute and Alex Cote's shot left Smith a big rebound which he took advantage of and the Bruins grabbed their first lead of the game. Less than three minutes Smith would earn a hat trick as he scored to make it 5-3. With 13 seconds remaining Cote found Smith in behind the Mustangs defence as Smith ended the night with four goals and an assist as the Bruins won 6-3.

It was a big night for Cote who also earned 4 assists and Leighton McLachlan, Matt Brykaliuk also registered a pair of points.

With the win the Bruins move into a tie with the Kindersley Klippers for 4th place with the Bruins owning a couple of games in hand.

The Bruins are back in action on Tuesday when they host Yorkton at 7:30.

Cassidy and Smith comment after the game.

Cassidy
















                                                           

                                                                                                       Smith

Bruins Looking For Redemption Against Melfort

The Estevan Bruins will host the Melfort Mustangs tonight at Spectra Place in the 4th and final matchup of the season. The previous three games against the Mustangs have ended in one goal affairs but Melfort earned the wins in all three contests.

Melfort 2 Bruins 1 OT Sept 25

The Bruins and Mustangs couldn't settle anything in regulation and in Overtime Jarrett Zentner managed to sneak a shot past the Bruins Curtis Martinu to get the extra time winner.

Melfort 3 Bruins 2 Nov 30

Another close game as the game was tied 1-1 heading into the third period. The Mustangs took a 2-1 lead and then Melfort scored once again on the extra man advantage to extend the lead to 3-1. Cole Olson scored late to cut the lead to 3-2 but the Bruins were unable to tie the game up.

Melfort 2 Bruins 1 OT Jan 19

Mefort's Patrick Johnson was the story of the game as the Bruins opened up with 12 shots in the opening three minutes but Johnson stoned the Bruins on every opportunity. The game would go into overtime with Godric Tham scoring with less than a minute remaining in overtime.

What will happen in the final matchup this season, we will find out tonight.

I had a chance to talk to the Bruins Curtis Martinu earlier this week and we talked about the Bruins homestand and tonight's opponent in Melfort.