ESTEVAN — Goaltender Dylan Adams has been a steady, stabilizing presence for the Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins this season.
Adams’ efforts were rewarded Dec. 7 when he recorded his first SJHL shutout in a 2-0 Bruins’ victory over the host Humboldt Broncos. And it wasn’t easy – Adams stopped all 48 shots he faced. According to the SJHL’s Facebook page, it’s the second-most saves for a shutout this decade.
“It’s a long time in the making for me. It was awesome and the boys played really well in front of me,” said Adams.
He wasn’t looking at the shot counter during the game, but knew he was busy. At the end, he saw how many shots he’d faced.
“In the first period, they had one or two breakaways, and then in the third, they had a really good chance in front of the net as well,” said Adams.
But the club had a great game in front of him, too, he said. Adams recalled late in the contest, the Bruin defenders blocked three shots to help preserve the goose egg.
Humboldt thought they’d beaten Adams at one point, but a goal was waived off due to goaltender interference. It was also the Broncos’ teddy bear toss night, so fans hurled their stuffed animals on the ice, thinking the home team had scored. The game was delayed while players cleared the ice.
Bruins’ head coach and GM Drew Kocur said he had never seen a teddy bear toss goal called off, and he thought it was the right call to disallow the goal.
“It’s a really hard call to make but it was a good call … by the referee,” said Kocur.
Adams was acquired from the Battlefords North Stars in a blockbuster trade that also sent Rylan Williams, Alex Scheck and Lucas Goodwin to the Bruins. Another Star, Colton Getzlaff, was dealt to the Bruins in a separate trade a few weeks later.
While Adams didn’t spend a lot of time with the Stars last season, appearing in just one game, it helped to have some familiar faces in place when he arrived in Estevan in August.
“It feels like a second home now. I’ve been loving it from just the people here to the hockey, and everything’s awesome,” said Adams.
Adams isn’t surprised with the success the Bruins have enjoyed, thanks to the talent on the club and the people they have in the dressing room.
“We have a lot of good players and a lot of good people, and great leaders and great coaches,” said Adams.
And while he’s been splitting goaltending duties with Kam, Adams said that hasn’t hindered the relationship between the two.
“Since he’s gotten here, it’s been really awesome that we’ve both been able to be a good option on any night. It's awesome that both of us can go in there and play really well. We’ve been rooming together on road trips and we’ve gotten to know each other better,” said Adams.
Kocur said it was really good to see Adams get the shutout.
“When we made the trade in the offseason, we knew what we were getting. He makes a lot of big saves for our group and we have a lot of confidence in Dylan,” said Kocur.
The win over Humboldt capped a northern road swing in which the Bruins went 2-1. They opened with a 5-3 loss at the Stars. The Battlefords led 5-1 early in the third. Nathaniel Harvey had the Bruins’ lone goal at that point.
Rorey Elson and Ewan Rennie tallied by the six-minute mark of the third, but the Bruins couldn’t get any closer thanks to Stars’ goalie Steele Bass, who finished with 44 saves on the night, including a penalty shot for Bruins’ Cash Olson in the third.
Adams had 41 saves for the Bruins.
The following night, the Bruins beat the Warman Wildcats 3-1 in Warman in the first clash between the two teams since the Notre Dame Hounds’ junior team relocated to Warman in the offseason. Oliver Kramp, Matthew Ronn and Rennie scored for Estevan. Ronn’s goal with 4:12 to play in the second was the winner and his first since he rejoined the Bruins a few weeks ago.
Kam made 31 saves in the victory.
Elson and Colton Getzlaff scored in the third period for the Bruins in the win over the Broncos. Humboldt goalie Charlie Tritt made 40 saves in the game.
Kocur said it was good to win a couple of low-scoring games.
“We know that we lead the league in scoring goals. We felt that we needed to do a better job of keeping the puck out of our net, and we talked about having more pride in the d-zone [defensive zone], and it showed on Saturday and Sunday [Dec. 6 and 7] that we allowed a total of one goal. The message was sent and received.”
A game Dec. 9 at the Yorkton Terriers was postponed due to icy highway conditions.
The Bruins (16-8-2-1) will host the Melville Millionaires on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. and will visit the Mills the following night.
In off-ice news, the Bruins have announced that defenceman Caleb Potter has been reassigned to the club from the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League. The 18-year-old Potter finished last season with the Bruins, recording a goal and six assists in 24 games.
