Bruins vs Mils Preview

Bruins vs Mils Head to Head

7 Games Played

Estevan wins season series 6-1.

Top Scorers

Bruins: Jonathan Ceci 25 goals 43 Assists 69 Points

Millionaires: Lucas Froese 22 Goals 21 Assists 43 Points

Top Scorers Head to Head

Bruins: Ryan Andersen 6 Goals 5 Assists 11 Points

Millionaires: Michael Desjarlais 2 Goals 4 Assists

Goaltending:

Bruins Joel Danyluk 18-16-3.74 GAA-897.SV%
Mills- Zach Rakochy 17-18-1-2 3.56 GAA-903 SV%

My 2 Cents On How the Bruins Can Win

Up Front:
With 9 20 year old players, the time is now for this team to win a championship. The Bruins will try and become the 2nd straight Survivor Series team to win the SJHL title. The Bruins line of Mark Cross-Troy Hunter-Josh Jelinski should be a bruising line that will try and wear Melville down.

The Bruins are a 4 line team and will use all 12 forwards as much as they can. The 2 best forwards over the last week have been Ryan Ostertag and Chris Daniels. Every championship team needs an unsung hero, and if one these players continue their current pace, the Bruins should be able to go on a run.

Backend:

Injuries have been the story for the Bruins blueline. Joel Kot missed all of January with an injury. His first game back Ty Ariss got hurt, and then 2 games later Lucas Stubel got hurt. But since Ariss and Stubel's injuries, Matt Szpak and Eric Baldwin have stepped up to become solid regulars in the Bruins lineup. Ariss should be back in the lineup for the Bruins, while Stubel is likely out for the Series.Kot has been showing signs of breaking out offensively over the last couple of weeks, and the playoffs are the perfect stage for that too happen.

In net, the Bruins will turn to Joel Danyluk. Danyluk hasn't had the greatest regular season but after last year's playoffs everyone knows what Danyluk is capable of. It's been hard for Danyluk to get into a really rhythm as he shared the goaltending duties with Shea Cooper, but Danyluk will have every chance to carry the Bruins to the next round. And you know with another shot at Yorkton on the line, Danyluk will do everything in his power to get the Bruins to Yorkton for next Friday.

My 2 Cents on why Melville Can Win

Up Front:

With the trades of Brayden Metz and Cody Hanson, Mils Head Coach Jaime Fiesel sent the message the team was eyeing up the future. There's plenty of quality forwards for the Mils including Roger Tagoona, Michael Desjarlais, Mark Owen, and Lucas Froese to name a few. For the Mils to beat the Bruins, they will need all of their lines to score. With a young team it has to be scoring by committee.

Back end:

The Mils will have to lean on Craig Karius and Tyson Newell. The Bruins are going to try and establish the physical tempo and the Mils blueline will have to match it and exceed it. In net, Zach Rakochy will get the nod. Rakochy stats are very similar to Danyluk's from the regular season, but when it comes to playoff experience it's not even close. Rakochy is making his first playoff start tonight. If the Mils are going to beat the Bruins, Rakochy has to be better than Danyluk.

Final Thought

I'm not going to make a prediction because of conflict of interest, but I think everybody agrees the Bruins are the favorite. The Bruins will try and be physical and will count on getting scoring from all the lines. For the Mils, they have to win one game in Estevan, and with a young team the Mils best shot might be tonight in Game 1.

Catch the game on CJ1280 and Discoverestevan.com beginning at 7:15