The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings opened the 2024 preseason Friday night, entertaining the Melville Millionaires. Hometown skater Aiden Mohan would finish with two points, including the game-winner in overtime, while Nick Forsyth made 33 saves in the goal as Weyburn beat the Millionaires 4-3.
"It's so good to see those two kids come in," Red Wings head coach Cody Mapes said after the game. "Nick knew at the end of the day, he was coming in and this was his last day with the team, and he did such a good job. You could argue that he was possibly the difference."
For Mohan, his assist on the first goal of the night instilled some confidence from the coaching staff, and it carried through right until the overtime period.
"Good to see Aiden Mohan finish it the way he did," Mapes added. "(Assistant coach) Willie (Mason) called it on the bench that he was going to score, and so it's pretty cool to see Aiden come up with that."
For the two players, the chance to be in the lineup with the Red Wings at Crescent Point Place was a dream come true.
"I've always dreamed it as a little kid, so it was electric," said Forsyth. "Had a bunch of my buddies and family out there watching me, and I know I played as best as I could, and I thought I did pretty well, but it was an awesome experience. I love it."
"I've always dreamed about playing for the Wings since I was seventh man, took a picture with Mike Eskra," added Mohan. "I've always wanted to be that guy taking the picture with the little kids, so it's a dream to play."
The two hometown players also knew this would be their last chance to impress the coaches of the Junior team, with both of them returning to their respective U18 squads - Forsyth with the U18 AA Wings in Weyburn, and Mohan with the U18 AAA Bears in Estevan. However, the game created some memories for both of them.
Mohan's game-winner, coming with 2:55 left to play in overtime, was set up by Carson Castro on a 2-on-1 into the Melville zone.
"I couldn't have done it without that really nice pass I got, so it's all him," said the forward, passing the credit to his teammate.
For Forsyth, he had the 373 in attendance on their feet with a diving save in the first period.
"I saw a backdoor pass, and I was like, all right, let's try and make the save, and then I dove, saved it, and got ready for the next shot," the goalie described.
Weyburn opened the scoring with 57 seconds left to play in the first period as Luke DeKay scored for the Red Wings, with Mohan getting the assist. Then, the lead was extended to 2-0 just past the halfway mark of the second when Liam Donovan scored on the power play. Simon Martin had the helper on the goal.
With just under five minutes to go in the period, Jack Linton would make it 3-0 for the Red Wings with an assist from Donovan. Then, the Millionaires would come back.
Ty Noseworthy scored for Melville with 22 seconds remaining in the second, and then seven seconds later, Preston Baerwald scored. Both of the goals came on the power play.
In the third period, with their net empty to get an extra skater on the ice, the Millionaires would get the equalizer to force the 3-on-3 overtime period when Jackson Lee scored on the power play with 48 seconds remaining.
In overtime, Mohan would score the game-winner, giving Weyburn the win in the preseason opener.
"The players are supposed to make these decisions more difficult, and they became very, very much more difficult tonight, and so it's good to see the players have that success, and small successes lead to big team things, so it's good to see the guys do that now," Mapes commented.
The Red Wings will now head up to Melville for a game against the Millionaires on Saturday night. The lineup for both teams will be different, with around six to eight veteran players each, as opposed to the all-rookie lineup that both teams put forward Friday.
The Red Wings will be back at Crescent Point Place Tuesday night against the Notre Dame Hounds before they close out the preseason with a home-and-home with the Estevan Bruins.