The Estevan Bruins first games of the 2020-21 regular season provided a stiff test, thanks to a pair of games against the Melville Millionaires.
The Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to beat Melville 4-3 Friday night in Melville, but then dropped a 6-3 decision Saturday in the Black and Gold’s home opener at Affinity Place.
Both teams have received a considerable boost from Western Hockey League (WHL) talent. The Bruins have local product Cole Fonstad, who finished third in the WHL in assists last year and was a fifth round pick of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens in 2018, as well as forward Eric Pearce and defenceman Nolan Jones.
Melville, meanwhile, has five players: Jaydon Dureau and Reece Newkirk, who were also fifth round NHL selections, along with Joe Arntsen, Landon Kosior and Bryan Thomson.
Fonstad opened the scoring Friday 7:04 into the first period – his first regular season goal for the Bruins in nearly five years, as he scored as a 15-year-old midget AAA call-up in 2015.
Newkirk scored to tie the game, and then gave Melville the lead with a goal 27 seconds into the second. Jonathan Krahn doubled the advantage with six minutes to play in the middle frame.
Fonastad’s second of the game early in the third pulled the Bruins to within one, and Ryder Pierson – another Estevan product – tied the game a few minutes later.
Jones scored the winner for the Bruins with 37 seconds to play in the third period. Pinching in from the point, he was in a corner when he threw the puck towards the net, and the puck bounced in off a Melville defender.
Emerik Demers stopped 25 shots to get the win – his first regular season victory in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).
Melville led after the first period Saturday, with Krahn scoring on a power play midway through the first period and Dureau scoring with 26 seconds to play in the first period.
After neither team scored in the second, Luke Nkwama tallied twice for Melville in the opening 4 1/2 minutes of the third for a 4-0 advantage.
Mason Strutt’s goal 20 seconds after Nkwama’s second tally put Estevan on the board.
The two teams traded goals before the end of the game. Devan Harrison from a point shot and Eddie Gallagher in tight scored for the Bruins, while Zach McIntyre and Dureau tallied for Melville.
Gallagher’s goal came seconds after Melville’s Cole Stevenson checked Bruin forward Caleb Petrie from behind. Stevenson was assessed a five-minute major and ejected, but there was just 25 seconds remaining.
Demers and Eric Clark split the goaltending duties for Estevan.
Head coach and general manager Jason Tatarnic said both games saw the Bruins struggle in the first two periods, only to pick up the pace in the third. The difference was they were able to win Friday.
“I thought we played better in the third (Saturday night), but it was a little bit too late,” said Tatarnic.
Several of Melville’s WHL players are high-end talents who played a lot both nights, too.
“Our guys have to rise up to that challenge and accept it, and we just have to have a better effort. You should welcome that challenge and thrive in it. As a hockey player, you want to play against the best players that you can, and some of our guys have that opportunity right now, and it shows what you’re made of,” said Tatarnic.
The Bruins will visit the Humboldt Broncos Friday night, and then host Humboldt Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Affinity Place.
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Kersey Reich, a 19-year-old defenceman, has been traded by the Bruins to the Nipawin Hawks for prospect forward Brendan Holba.
Reich, who hails from Estevan, posted four goals and 14 points in 40 games for the Bruins as a rookie in 2019-20.
He was born and raised in Estevan and played his developmental hockey here until his second year at the U15 level, when he joined the Notre Dame AAA program. Then he spent three years playing U18 AAA hockey with the Swift Current Legionnaires.
“The Estevan Bruins thank Kersey for his contributions to the team on the ice and in the community,” the team said in a social media post. “As a hometown player, Kersey represented the club with pride and was a great role model with young fans and kids in Estevan.”
Holba (5'8”, 185 pounds) is a 2003-born forward currently playing with the Regina Pat Canadians. He was selected by the Hawks in the third round, 30th overall, in the 2018 SJHL Bantam Draft.
He had seven goals and 12 points in 43 games with the Pat Canadians last season – his first in U18 AAA hockey – and he’s expected to be part of the Bruins for the 2021-22 season.
