The long summer break is finally over, as the Estevan Bruins finally open up Spectra Place in style as they take on the Melville Millionaires in a rematch of last year’s classic Survivor Series.
After a preseason that saw the Bruins go 5-0-1, the Black and Gold will be looking to take that success over in to the regular season. Here’s what the projected forward lines will look like for the Bruins.
Neufeld-Olson-Smith
Hengen-Daniels-Ostertag
Reich-Dochylo-Jelinski
Brykaliuk-Bernard-Froese
No surprise that Keith Cassidy keeps Olson, Neufeld and Smith together, the trio have been lighting up the scoring lamp in the preseason, and there’s a good chance the first goal in Spectra Place will come from the stick of one of those players. The Hengen, Daniels and Ostertag line will see plenty speed and a lot of scoring ability, Daniels has been one of the most impressive players in camp, Ostertag looks very confident after spending the summer in Boston, and the Estevan product, Hengen should ready to go after missing most of last season with a knee injury. The Reich-Dochylo-Jelinski trio will be the Bruins energy line, and fans in Estevan should get use to seeing the Brykaliuk-Bernard- Froese line become a force for the next three seasons for the Bruins. Brykaliuk and Froese just returned from the World Junior A Challenge Evaluation Camp and Bernard lead the Manitoba AAA Midget league in scoring last year.
On the blue line, I don’t know the pairings but I know that Dominic Perrault and Eric Baldwin will start the season as the 1-2 defenceman , Tyler Kauk and Austin Yano will likely be listed as the third and fourth defenceman. Kauk is a solid two way defenceman with a nice shot from the point, while Yano can become a fourth forward from the blue line, expect Yano to rush the puck plenty of times tonight. I believe Jeff Bartel and Lyndon Soper will be the Bruins 5th and 6th defencemen tonight.
In net with the injury to Shea Cooper, Derek Tendler will get the start for the Bruins tonight. Tendler returns to Estevan after spending the last year and a half in Vancouver and Swift Current in the WHL. I’m expecting Tendler to play with a chip on his shoulder after being released very early into training camp from Swift Current.
For Melville, they are going to make a run this season for the Sherwood title. The Mils made a trade with Melfort sending Brayden Metz, and Cody Hanson in exchange for Lee Christensen, Jesse Mireau and Sean Aschim. Aschim is still with the Moose Jaw Warriors, but with Christensen the Mils might have the best defenceman in the league, and Mireau could be one of the leaders in points. Add those two players with Michael Desjarlais, Mark Owen and Roger Tagoona among others, and the Mils have the makings of championship team.
If you’re heading to rink tonight, be there by 7:00, because the Bruins have a special show planned for 7:10 that will feature a video, fireworks, flames, and more. We’ll have the pregame show kicking off our coverage on CJ1280 and discoverestevan.com at 7:10. We’ll Dominic Perrault as our guest in the first intermission.
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