It took some time to crack the goalie at the other end of the ice, but after that the goals came fast and furious.
The Estevan TS&M Bruins thumped the West Central Wheat Kings 7-1 in bantam AA action on Sunday at Affinity Place.
Cole Fonstad led the way for the Bruins (6-4) with a hat trick and two assists.
"We knew what to expect. They don't move the puck up very well, so if you can get all over their defencemen, the game is simple from there. They don't present much of a contest, providing you get to their goaltender early. If he gets hot, it's not the same game," said Bruins head coach Tom Copeland.
Wheat Kings goalie Ryan Deck stood on his head in the first two periods, and the hosts led 3-0 after 40 minutes. But the floodgates opened in the third.
Late in the first period, Daymon Wanner finished off a blind centring pass from Ethan Smith to open the scoring.
Terran Holzer extended the Bruins' lead eight minutes into the second period, firing a point shot through traffic and in.
Fonstad's first of the afternoon came at the 13:42 mark of the period, as he scored shorthanded on a strong individual effort.
The Bruins added three goals in the first half of the third period, beginning with a Fonstad slapper from the point less than four minutes in.
Shortly after that, Mason Strutt tapped in a Fonstad feed to make it 6-0. Then Fonstad completed the hat trick, beating Deck high short side.
The Wheat Kings got on the board at the 11:45 mark on a power play by Andrew Hawes.
Strutt scored his second of the game on a rebound with 47 seconds remaining.
Copeland said his club did a lot of things better compared to last weekend's Graham Tuer tournament in Regina, where they went 1-3.
"I think we worked better at banging bodies, for sure. You saw us below the goal line initiating contact. Those were things we weren't doing last weekend. We worked on that all week and we did that well. That was the point of emphasis and we did that.
"Our zone entry was better too, keeping the puck away from the goalie on our dump-ins and stuff like that. As the game went on, you saw us (with) more puck possession gaining the zone, versus dump the puck in. That's the progression we're trying to preach: dump early, get them turning, backing up, and then (we) have puck possession and that's the way it worked out. That's the way you saw us scoring goals today," Copeland said.
While the top line of Fonstad, Strutt and Ryder Pierson combined for eight points on Sunday, secondary scoring is a concern.
"What we're really worried about is our second line right now. We're trying to find out who's going to be that secondary scoring for us, particularly on the power play."
Copeland said the Bruins have performed well so far, but feels there were some missed opportunities on a pair of northern road trips last month.
"I think we're reasonably happy. We'd probably rather have gone up there and seen a few more wins, because to be honest with you, we could (have been) 7-2 coming into this game, and now 8-2. We gave away some wins that we shouldn't normally give away. But they're young and they're still learning to play. We had some hard road trips up there. We've owned the teams from Saskatoon.
"We haven't seen a lot of the south yet. That's going to be the test. The North Division doesn't look nearly as strong as the South Division does right now."
The undefeated Yorkton Terriers are running away with first place in the south, but Copeland said the Bruins are aiming for second place. The main challengers at this point are the Prairie Storm (4-0-1) and the Regina Monarchs (5-2-1).
"We're in the thick of it now."
The Bruins were slated to visit the Monarchs last night. On Saturday, they will host the Saskatoon Outlaws at 5:15 p.m. at Affinity Place.
