The Estevan midget A Bruins captured the Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA) provincial championship with a 4-3 road win over the Melfort Mustangs at the Northern Lights Palace Arena on Sunday.
The 4-3 win followed a 7-2 Bruins’ victory over the Mustangs at the Civic Auditorium on Thursday, giving the club an 11-5 two-game total-point series win. The Bruins, whose roster includes members of the Moose Mountain Hockey League’s Estevan Bruins and Estevan Tower Wolves, played tight in the opening frame of the second game against the Mustangs, engaged in a wild shootout in the second period and settled back into a defensive focus in the final 20 minutes.
Estevan’s Derian Pratt, Jordan Stein, JD Gervais and Kyle Hertes all found the back of the net during a 10-minute flurry in the second period, while Bruins’ goaltender Zack Miller earned the win between the pipes.
Sabe Holzer, head coach of the Bruins, said they got a lot of pucks deep and generated good scoring opportunities in the third period, but weren’t able to bury any of their chances. However, he said the goal of the final frame was to keep the pressure on the Mustangs and not take any risks considering the cushion they already enjoyed.
“I told the kids we’re here to win a hockey game,” said Holzer. “We’re not here to win a series, we’re here to win a hockey game and if we do that the series will look after itself.”
The Bruins advanced to the SHA finals by a 10-6 opening-round victory over the Yorkton Terriers and 20-6 second-round win against the Swift Current Wild. Holzer said the secret to their success was getting along well off the ice and coming together with a common goal on it.
“They just come and put the effort in,” he said. “You can have all the structure in the world, but if you don’t put the effort into it you’re not going to be successful. They just come (and put the effort in) and they have fun doing it.”
