The Yorkton RawTec Maulers of the SMAAAHL are 3-1 in preparation games leading up to the season after a 2-1 victory over the visiting Tisdale Trojans on Wednesday, September 10 and a 6-4 home loss to the Regina Pat Canadians on Sunday afternoon.
Topping Tisdale
Rookie Mauler Cole Keenleyside of Hazlet, SK, had a goal and an assist, while first year midget Carson Welke also found the back of the net in last Wednesday's 2-1 victory over the rival Tisdale Trojans.
Local Mauler hopeful Derrick Budz continued his strong preseason performance, finding the score sheet yet again with an assist, giving him points in every exhibition game he has played in.
Rylan Palchewich picked up the win for the Maulers between the pipes turning aside eight of nine shots he faced before being replaced by Braxton Stenson midway through the game. Stenson stopped all six of Tisdale's shots to preserve the victory for the Maulers.
Things got chippy late in the game when Tisdale's Brandon Griffiths jumped Budz from behind, tackling the much smaller Mauler player to the ice and pummeling him with punches causing veteran Mauler forward Damian Bentz to leave the Yorkton bench and drag Griffiths off of his teammate.
Bentz was given a five minute major for fighting, a double minor for leaving the bench and a game misconduct while Griffiths was given a five minute major for fighting and a game misconduct as well.
Keenleyside, who was also involved in the altercation, was given five and a game as well while Budz didn't receive any penalty minutes for his role in the skirmish.
When asked after the game what exactly caused the altercation, Maulers head coach Dan Cross was unsure. "I really have no idea," mentioned Cross. "It's just kids trying out for a team and their adrenaline is going and they think they have to impress somebody and sometimes that stuff happens."
Cross did mention that, while he iced a team that mad a large majority of SMAAAHL regulars in it, Tisdale did not, opting instead for nearly an entire group of players hungry to crack the final roster. "We had a good chunk of our guys on our team playing against guys who know that it might be the only game they'll have at this level," said the Maulers bench boss, adding that 'sometimes that stuff happens'.
Sunday setback
The Regina Pat Canadians handed the Yorkton RawTec Maulers their first defeat of the preseason on Sunday afternoon, putting three pucks past both Carter Phair (15 saves on 18 shots) and Braxton Stenson (10 saves on 13 shots), while allowing the Maulers to find the net just four times on 20 shots in a 6-4 Yorkton loss.
Defenceman Adam Neibrandt led the Mauler offence with a goal and an assist, while Derrick Budz, Logan Casavant and Koal Roberts also found the back of the net in the loss.
Cole Keenleyside picked up two assists in the game to give him four points in the past two exhibition games.
Regina's Arthur Miller led the Pat Canadian charge with two goals and two helpers, while linemate Riley Woods also had a four point performance with a goal and three assists.
A problem that plagued the Maulers last season made a return on Sunday afternoon as Yorkton took 12 minor penalties, three of which Regina capitalized on, one of which resulted in the game winning goal for the Pat Canadians midway through the third period.
But while losing never tastes good, head coach Dan Cross believes that as long as his team is working hard in the preseason, that's really all that matters. "I don't really care what the scores are so much in exhibition games, I'm just happy that their working hard," suggested the Maulers head coach. "Obviously you want to win every game but I'm just happy that they're working hard."
Cross also touched on the fact that he and his staff have settled on the majority of their roster for the 2014/15 season, but one glaring hole remains to be filled and there is no secret as to where that hole is. "We're still trying to fill our backup goalie position," offered Cross, continuing, "We have two guys, Stenson and Pally (Palchewich) who are both fighting for one spot. Phair is going to be our starter but we haven't made our decision yet on who will be the backup."
Both Stenson and Palchewich have experience at the midget 'AA' and bantam 'AA' levels as starting netminders, however Palchewich might have the inside edge simply due to his cup of coffee with the Maulers late last season and into the playoffs.
Next action
The Yorkton RawTec Maulers are in action tonight as they take on the Regina Pat Canadians in White City.
The Maulers wrap up their six game exhibition season on Saturday with an away game against the Tisdale Trojans, before opening the regular season on the road on Saturday, September 27 in Wilcox against the Notre Dame Hounds.
