Everywhere you turned on the weekend, no matter if it was someone from Regina, Edmonton or La Ronge, they all raved about Spectra Place.
They raved about the venue, about the view from upstairs, about the fact that there's not a bad seat in the place, and for those lucky enough to see it, about the Bruins' new dressing room.
Vancouver Giants director of player development Todd Ripplinger was among that group and he called the room more of a china cabinet than a dressing room.
SJHL officials called it the best Showcase ever, and scouts from near and far commented that it was a welcome upgrade on some of the other venues they've visited to watch players in Saskatchewan.
Spectra Place was lauded on just about every out-of-town radio broadcast all weekend, and the overriding theme was that words weren't enough to do it justice and you had to come down to check it out yourself.
A lot of people were worn out by the time the weekend was over, but they can take pride in a job done right.
The atmosphere was incredibly unique, with the rink full of people from morning through night, whether it be fans, players, coaches, scouts or volunteers.
On the ice, Saturday may have provided the most entertaining hockey even with the Bruins not playing.
Battlefords won the early game 4-1 over Melfort, but even that contest provided some spectacular netminding by Mustangs goalie Jesse Wilkins, who put on one of the best performances of the weekend.
In the afternoon game, La Ronge and Nipawin went back and forth in a see-saw battle before the Wolves won it 3-2 on an overtime marker by Brodie Eisbrenner.
At 5 p.m., Melville and Humboldt went to battle and while the Mils were the better team in the early going, the Broncos staged a comeback in the second period and eventually won it 5-4 on a neutral zone turnover with 3:48 left that resulted in Riley Kieser scoring his second goal of the game.
And in the nightcap, Kindersley got the game-winner from Jesse Mysiorek with 1:10 remaining to edge Flin Flon 3-2 in a game that featured the return of Klipper defenceman Kade Halabuza to his hometown.
Kudos to everyone who helped make this weekend happen and made it possible for Estevan to shine on the provincial stage
