The Yorkton RawTec Maulers wrapped up their 2014/15 exhibition season this past weekend with two road games, a 6-5 overtime loss to the Regina Pat Canadians on Wednesday, September 17 and a 3-2 victory over the Tisdale Trojans on Saturday, September 20.
The Maulers got off to a good start against Regina on Wednesday, capitalizing on three powerplays in the first half of the game to go along with an even strength marker while scoring the first four goals of the contest before the Pat Canadians even found the scoreboard.
Mauler returnee Drayson Skulmoski opened the scoring for the Maulers via the powerplay with 10:59 remaining in the first period. Brennan Watson upped the Mauler lead to two just five minutes later to give Yorkton a 2-0 lead after one period.
Rookie blueliner Tyler Stratechuk notched his first powerplay goal of the preseason less than four minutes into the second frame to make it 3-0 Maulers before McKenzie Welke made it 4-0 Yorkton with a powerplay goal of his own just over four minutes later.
Regina's Tyran Brown cut into the Mauler lead with a Regina powerplay marker, however the Maulers would regain their four goal lead just over three minutes later when Watson beat Regina netminder Curtis Meger for his second goal of the game.
Two late penalties by Regina, a double minor to Owen Sillinger for checking to the head and a two minute slashing minor to Conner Chaulk, looked to give the Maulers all sorts of momentum, however a pair of shorthanded goals, one each by Trent Luby and Sillinger, gave Regina life heading into the third period.
Just under three minutes into the final period Sillinger cut the Mauler lead to just one and just over three minutes into the third he evened the score with his third of the game to make it 5-5.
Try as they might the Maulers just could not beat Meger in the third period, despite directing 21 shots toward the Pat Canadian net, resulting in a 5-5 tie after regulation.
Regina's Justin Dubecky gave the home Pat Canadians the victory when he beat Mauler goaltender Carter Phair with 1:23 remaining in extra frame.
Phair shouldered the loss for the Maulers, stopping 13-of-18 shots, while Rylan Palchewich was solid in his 30 minutes of action, turning aside 16-of-17 Regina chances.
Meger picked up the win in the Regina net, turning aside 42-of-47 Mauler shots.
Despite the loss, Mauler head coach Dan Cross felt his team played well against Regina, although a few lapses in concentration ultimately led to their demise. "Well actually we played well against Regina. We had a little problem with discipline and we kind of got away from our game plan for a little bit," offered Cross. "I would say there were a couple of minutes in the second and a couple of minutes in the third period where they scored most of their goals, otherwise we played a pretty strong game."
The final game of the preseason saw the Maulers take on their hated rivals the Tisdale Trojans on Saturday.
The Maulers jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Logan Casavant and Carson and McKenzie Welke then held on for a 3-2 victory to round out their exhibition season. Palchewich picked up the win in the Maulers net stopping 33-of-35 Tisdale shots while Kye Steinke suffered the loss, stopping 28-of-31 Yorkton attempts.
Following the game Cross mentioned that it was a great all around team effort to pick up the win, but what he noticed even more was the fact that his club kept its cool while Tisdale continually tried to goad them in to bad penalties. "Not only did we get the win, we turned it around and our focus was directed at a proper direction which was good," suggested Cross, adding that Tisdale took 13 minor penalties to Yorkton's five in the game, while the Trojans also had two misconduct penalties in the game.
The win over Tisdale gives the Yorkton RawTec Maulers a 4-2 record at the end of the SMAAAHL preseason, with a .500 record against SMAAAHL opponents (2-0 against Tisdale, 0-2 versus Regina).
Final roster
The Yorkton RawTec Maulers return just eight players from their 2013/14 campaign.
Forwards Drayson Skulmoski (42 GP, 2 goals, 1 assist), Koal Roberts (44 GP, 2 goals, 5 assists), Damian Bentz (44 GP, 6 goals, 17 assists) and Brennan Watson (40 GP, 5 goals, 9 assists) are back in Yorkton for another year, as are blueliners Logan Leslie (40 GP, 4 goals, 4 assists), Logan Karakochuk (2 goals, 14 assists) and Adam Neibrandt (2 goals, 6 assists).
Netminder Carter Phair (5-5-1, 2.75 GAA, .914 save percentage) also returns to Yorkton after suffering a season ending groin injury last season. Phair's backup for the 2014/15 season will be Rylan Palchewich, who out-battled Braxton Stenson for the job. Palchewich also spent some time with the 'AAA' club last year when Phair went down with an injury and proved that he could play at the 'AAA' level.
New to the Maulers on the blueline will be 15-year-old rookies Carson Sass (Melville, SK), Tyler Stratechuk (Springside, SK) and 6'5 first year midget Austin Shumanski (Hafford, SK).
Up front the Maulers welcome first year midget players Derrick Budz, Carson Welke and McKenzie Welke, all of Yorkton, as well as fellow first year Tristyn DeRoose (Ceylon, SK).
Maulers head coach Dan Cross figures that the Welke brothers, when combined with Brennan Watson, will prove to be one of the more formidable offensive combinations on the league. "Watson seems to be a good fit with them (Welke brothers), Bentz could be too once he comes back from his suspension, but I think we'll start the season with the Welke boys and Watson, which will give that line some leadership as well," suggested the Mauler head coach. "They're definitely gifted players, all three of them and I think that it should be interesting to see how they do here once we get into the regular season.
"They've already showed that they can put the puck in the net but it gets a little tougher during the regular season so we'll see, but I expect that they will produce."
The Maulers also brought in a few experienced midget players for the 2014/15 campaign. Logan Casavant (Melfort, SK) joins the team, as do Kylan Shea (Yorkton, SK) and Cole Keenleyside (Hazlet, SK).
Cross is also waiting on information one other forward, however due to eligibility issues his name cannot be released at this time.
The Yorkton RawTec Maulers will also be shorthanded to begin the season as veteran forward Damian Bentz will miss the first eight games of the 2014/15 campaign due to a suspension he received when he left the Mauler bench during the third period of the Maulers 2-1 win over the Tisdale Trojans on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
