The U18 AAA Estevan Bears skated to a commanding 11-2 victory over the Yorkton Maulers on Wednesday night, dominating in all areas of the game.
After the first period, the Bears led 1-0, with Roan Burgess scoring the opening goal. Head coach Ryan Pilon admitted the team wasn’t at their best early on.
“We didn’t really like our first period too much,” Pilon said. “We ended up having a one-nothing lead up to the first period, and we weren’t clean, we weren’t sharp, and we weren’t initiating as much as we needed to be.”
The second period saw the Bears come alive, adding four goals to extend their lead to 5-0. Burgess netted two more for a hat trick, while Dylan Brass and Will Nicholson also scored.
“I thought that the boys really responded in the second period and took control of the game and dictated how we wanted the game to go,” Pilon said.
The Bears didn’t let up in the third period, scoring six more goals to close out the game. Kobe Wotta, Ryden Amberson, Cameron Allard, Gunner Moore, Jaxon Sedor, and Cooper Flath all found the back of the net.
Pilon highlighted the team’s strong execution in key areas.
“Getting to the hard areas, getting inside of the ice, I thought we did that really well,” Pilon said. “That’s a small sample size, just one game. Now we wanna carry that over and hopefully find the back end of the net like we did. Hopefully, that gets some confidence for some players moving into these weekend games now.”
He also commended the team’s leaders for stepping up.
“Our top players, top guys that we lean on heavily, took over the game kind of in the second period to allow some of our other players opportunities that they haven’t necessarily been getting this season so far,” Pilon said.
Despite the impressive win, Pilon emphasized the need for continued improvement as the Bears prepare for a weekend series against the Swift Current Legionnaires.
The Bears are currently sitting seventh in the league with a 10-9-2 record and 22 points. Meanwhile, the Legionnaires hold second place with a 16-4 record and 32 points.
The two teams will face off at Affinity Place on Saturday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m., with a second game set for 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 9.