The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings have been working to bolster the lineup this week, with a number of additions to the roster. Not all of the players coming in are necessarily new faces, however.
While there have been five players added to the team this week, much of the talk, at least initially, was around the two players announced on Wednesday – Jerome Maharaj and Jaxson Ruthven. The duo figured prominently in the Red Wings lineup last season and had both gone to try their luck outside of the SJHL. Maharaj went to the Langley Rivermen of the BCHL, while Ruthven went to play with the Aberdeen Wings of the NAHL.
“Obviously, they’re huge contributors on the ice,” head coach and general manager Cody Mapes said of the duo. “But, those guys were huge in our community too. Whenever they were out and involved, there were always rave reviews about how they were to deal with in the community.”
Last season, Maharaj finished with 56 points in 56 games, and was a key factor during the playoff series against the Humboldt Broncos. Ruthven would finish the 2023-24 campaign with 49 points in 51 games. The addition of the firepower is expected to help after the Red Wings struggled at times to find their scoring touch in the opening games of the season.
“I thought we played really well, and our analytics would support that theory over the last two games,” Mapes said. “But at the end of the day, we struggled to score.”
On Tuesday, the team also announced they had acquired forwards Lynden Donald-Gorman and Turner McIntyre. Both were playing in the AJHL before coming to Weyburn.
“He’s kind of a straight-line guy”, Mapes described of the game of Donald-Gorman. “He skates really well, shoots the puck well. He’s put up points everywhere he’s gone.”
And McIntyre?
“More of a shufty, puck possession guy. Very elusive, can really shoot the puck well, plays with good pace.”
Then, the Red Wings announced one more player joining the club – Ethan Dekay. Dekay, whose younger brother Luke skates with the team, was with the Okotoks Oilers of the BCHL before opting to join the Red Wings. The elder Dekay also comes to Weyburn with a place to play next season, as he is already committed to Michigan Tech for next season.
“He practiced with us here this week once already, and he looks like he’s going to be a big contributor,” Mapes said. “You add him to the group of guys that we got this week, and the team is going to be a very, very different-looking team this weekend than it was last weekend.”
The Red Wings will be in action with a pair of games over the course of the weekend. The Flin Flon Bombers come to town Friday night, and then the Red Wings host the Nipawin Hawks Saturday.