Local Sports

The Blackfalds Bulldogs were successful in their first game in BC after joining the BCHL partway through last season.

In what was a back-and-forth affair, a pair of third-period goals would give Blackfalds a 5-4 preseason victory over the Cranbrook Bucks.

The Bulldogs got off to an early 2-0 lead with first-period goals from Shane Purves and Wolf Giles.

Bryce Bryant would get Cranbrook on the board before the end of the first.

The Bucks would go up 3-2 midway through the second period before Charles Beland made it a 3-3 game at 13:03 of the second.

A two-goal third period lifted the Red Deer Rebels past the Medicine Hat Tigers 2-1 Friday night at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Liam Ruck opened in the scoring late in the second for the Tigers.

Red Deer would respond early in the third when Jhett Larson netted a shorthanded marker for his second of the preseason.

Carson Birnie put Red Deer up for good with a goal at the 2:08 mark of the third.

Both teams finished the night 0-for-5 on the power play.

Rebels goalie Rhett Stoesser stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced.

The Portage Terriers got a hat-trick out of Evan Lachimea in their last game against the Neepawa Titans on Wednesday, September 11, but expect that they'll have some reinforcements coming into the team's next game.

Portage will face off with Neepawa for the second time this preseason on Saturday, September 14, at Stride Place. Portage and Neepawa have met in the preseason several times over the course of the last few seasons, and Portage, in the previous three exhibition schedules, has a record of 5-1 (W-L), as well as taking the 'W' in their first preseason matchup this year.

Swift Current, Sask. – A rough minute early in the first period put the Moose Jaw Warriors behind the eight-ball and they couldn’t recover.

The Warriors dropped an 8-2 game to the Broncos in WHL preseason action on Friday night in Swift Current.

“We were a little bit late to check and just tracking details, we were in good spots, but we were just a half-second late to get the job done,” Warriors assistant coach Curtis Pereverzoff said on the difference in the loss.

What a difference a week can make.

The Lacombe Composite High School Rams had a bounce-back game Friday night in front of a raucous crowd at MEGlobal Athletic Park.

The Rams defeated the Stettler Wildcats by a score of 35-21 in their 2024 home opener. Lacombe was shut out 20-0 last week by Thurber to open up the season.

Caleb Hadland scored twice and Quinn Mantei had a goal and two assists in the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-3 victory over the Regina Pats at Westoba Place. Adam Belusko and Nolan Flamand also scored for the Wheat Kings who will wrap up their pre-season schedule tonight in Regina. Brandon will open the 2024-25 Western Hockey League season Friday, September 20th at home against the defending champion Moose Jaw Warriors.

The Steinbach Pistons play their final pre-season game tonight when they face the Nighthawks in Niverville. Steinbach fell 5-4 in a seven round shootout Friday night to the defending Manitoba Junior Hockey League champion Flyers in Winkler. Chad Cote, Jackson Kostiuk, Grady Hoffman and Blake Farthing scored for the Pistons in regulation.

The Winkler Flyers pre-season schedule came to an end Friday night. Nick Mckee scored in the seventh round of the shootout to lift Winkler past the Steinbach Pistons 5-4. Connor Jensen, Brady Craik, Mathys Blanchette and Brody Beauchemin scored in regulation for the defending Turnbull Cup champions who will open the 2024-25 Manitoba Junior Hockey League season at home next Friday against the Pistons.

The Maple Creek Redmen overcame a plethora of penalties Friday night to fend off the Gull Lake Lions to open their season in the win column.

Running backs Alex Cruz and Cade Sanderson each scored a pair of touchdowns for Maple Creek in the 27-17 victory. Lions running back Tyden Johnson registered both Gull Lake's touchdowns.

It'll be a battle Friday night as the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings travel to take on the Carstar Okotoks Bisons.

The two teams will face off at the Murray & Piper Arena at 7:30 p.m.

Cody Holdaway, general manager of the Kings says morale in the locker room is high going into the game.

"I think there's been a lot of changes happening around the whole organization, and we're trying to create a place that these guys want to play."

The Kings split a two-game series last weekend.