The Bruins are on their way to Kindersley today to start a three-game road swing that could get them back into the thick of the race for a top three spot in the Sherwood.
The Bruins are in Kindersley tonight, then head up to North Battleford for a game tomorrow and then back to Kindersley on Saturday.
Steven Glass will make his first start since Jan. 8 tonight after recovering from a knee injury.
Tyler Ross has filled in admirably over the last six games, overcoming a shaky first start at home to provide the Bruins with stellar, reliable netminding.
This weekend's trip serves up two games against a bottom-feeder and one against one of the league's elite teams. Look no further than the Bruins' struggles against Melfort this season for a reminder that they can't afford to take the Klippers lightly. Kindersley won their first game of 2012 on Sunday in Yorkton, and the Bruins need to bring the same kind of 60-minute effort they produced two weeks ago against the Klippers in order to secure four points from those games.
As for the Battlefords game, Sunday's third-period collapse should be all the motivation the Bruins need to walk in and take two points from the Stars. Estevan showed for two periods that they can play with one of the league's best teams; now they need to close the deal, and the two points could be crucial if the Bruins are to chase down a Melville team decimated by injuries.
It looks like Melville (five points ahead, one game in hand) could now be the easier target for the Bruins to track down. They were missing nine regulars last night in Humboldt and have been playing shorthanded for a while. Yorkton has opened up an eight-point lead on the Bruins, who do have a game in hand now, but that's still a very tall order.
I don't think there's been a year since I began covering the SJHL (which isn't saying much) where the race for rookie of the year was more wide-open than this year.
If you look around the league, I don't think there's one guy who clearly stands out above everyone else as the league's top rookie.
There are three Bruins who should have a legitimate shot at rookie of the year.
Taylor Reich - 47-14-18-32
Reich is effective in so many roles that it wasn't until recently that I realized just how good he's been on the scoresheet. As far as I can tell (Leaguestat doesn't track rookie scoring for some reason, so I may have made a mistake somewhere), Reich is leading all rookies 18 and under in scoring. A lot of Bruin forwards get overshadowed by Neufeld, Olson and Smith, but Reich made the transition to junior very quickly and he's done it all for the Bruins this season.
Austin Yano - 46-9-16-25
Yano leads all rookie defencemen in scoring and is 13th among all blueliners. He's equally comfortable moving the puck ahead to the forwards or lugging it himself, and without him there's no way the Bruins have the best power play in the SJHL. His defensive coverage has improved all year and while he's still got some work to do, there's no question he's one of the very best rookies in the league.
Tyler Kauk - 50-4-13-17
Yano might get more consideration around the league because of his numbers, but Kauk plays like a veteran in virtually every way. He's arguably among the top defencemen in the league already, and he will get better. Kauk has taken a lot of the pressure off the rest of the Bruins' young rearguards by logging over 20 minutes a night, and he does it with impeccable positioning, big hits and a heavy shot.
Here are the rest of the Bruins' rookies and the numbers they've put up:
Matt Brykaliuk - 36-9-9-18
Tanner Froese - 46-12-4-16
Ben Johnstone - 43-8-8-16
Tyler Poskus - 29-1-5-6
Denin Boesch - 40-0-5-5
Steven Glass - 12-11, 3.50, .895
Tyler Ross - 4-4, 2.93, .911
Here are some of the other notables around the league. Note: this includes only '93s and '94s and it's pretty much based on points, so I'm probably missing some solid stay-at-home defencemen.
I'd say the main competition for the three Bruins listed above are Carter Struthers, Mitch Doell and Tad Kozun. Kozun cooled off quite a bit after his hot start, and now he's out with a broken leg. I'm not sure if Sloan and Zentner have played enough games to be considered.
Dallen Hall (FF) - 50-4-14-18
Kyle Davies (KIN) - 41-6-14-20
Brandon Sloan (MFT) - 26-9-12-21
Jarett Zentner (MFT) - 19-7-11-18
Mitch Doell (NIP) - 48-12-17-29
Tad Kozun (NIP) - 37-16-11-27
Dillon Schwartzenberger (ND) - 40-11-13-24
Carter Struthers (WEY) - 32-3-18-21
Curtis Oliver (YOR) - 40-14-10-24
Devin Buffalo (FF) - 15-12-5, 3.42, .907
Alex Wakaluk (MVL) - 12-9-2, 2.92, .910
