(Submitted photo/Jeromy Corrigan, SJHL)

By Ben Tompkins

SJHL/MJHL Showcase

Mustangs players help propel SJHL teams to pair of Day 1 victories

Jan 30, 2024 | 5:53 PM

The 2024 SJHL/MJHL Showcase began Tuesday morning in Winnipeg, as a total of six games over two days are scheduled for the two provinces’ best and brightest.

In total, seven Melfort Mustangs players and their head coach were invited to the annual event, as a handful of them helped propel their teams to opening-day victories.

“Our start was great, we had a very good penalty kill when we needed it and you got to give credit to Ben Motew, our player of the game. It was rightfully deserved, he really played well today and it’s good to see that Aidyn scored the first one, the scoring was spread out and it was a pretty good team effort,” explained Team Gold assistant coach, Trevor Blevins.

As Blevins mentioned, it was Mustangs forward Aidyn Hutchinson who opened the tournament scoring, less than five minutes in, off the feed from his Melfort teammate Ryan Duguay.

That was a very similar situation for the two, as they did the same thing last Thursday in Wilcox.

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“It was good, nice for them to go get the juices going, I liked everybody off the start, but the Melfort boys did play well. They can hold their head high today, I thought they had a really high compete level and definitely had a lot more positives out there, held they’re own and really showed well, so hopefully a big week for them and they get noticed,” Blevins added.

“All five of them were great, it was good to see him on the ice together at times, we had a power play where we definitely had a lot of control, a lot of movement and generated some scoring chances. Everyone really contributed to the win, and for the blue and green on our side, I’m pretty happy with how they played.”

The SJHL’s Team Gold won 5-2 over the MJHL’s Team Red, while the SJHL’s Team White followed up with a 4-3 victory over the MJHL’s Team Black.

Mustangs defenceman Chase Friedt-Mohr also had an assist in the first game, while the lone Melfort product on Team White, Clay Sleeva, also had a helper.

Sleeva’s Mustangs teammates and coach got to watch in the stands while he played on Tuesday afternoon, while the only Mustang to not yet compete, in goaltender James Venne, will get the start Wednesday for Team Gold.

“We are excited for his to start,” Blevins told northeastNOW. “It’s going to be a good opportunity for him, he’s got a lot of interest and rightfully so as a 19-year-old goaltender with all his capabilities, so we hope he shows well tomorrow and has a good one.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8