(Photo courtesy/Broad Leaf Media)

By Ben Tompkins

Hockey Is Back

Mustangs complete fall camp, exhibition game one, four more remain before regular season begins

Sep 12, 2023 | 4:25 PM

Hockey is officially back in the City of Melfort as the Melfort Mustangs have returned to the ice.

This past weekend was the organization’s fall camp, which featured three straight days of intersquad action, as local teens vied for their spots on the preseason roster.

Now, the exhibition games have begun and those who have made it are trying to make those good impressions last.

“We had an excellent camp, it was competitive, and every session had lots of effort and couldn’t be happier going into the season,” said head coach and general manager Trevor Blevins. “We got lots of decisions to make and there’s lots of games where we got lots of bodies around flowing in and out of the lineup.”

The Stangs played their first game against another SJHL opponent when they hosted the Nipawin Hawks last night (Monday).

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The contest was full of young talent from both teams, as they only suited up players 17 years old or younger, as part of a ‘rookie night’.

“We had lots of young 07’s in the lineup, which was great to see, and they competed hard and held their own,” added Blevins. That was lots of our future, and I thought it was a good game for both teams to get their feet wet and get into an SJHL exhibition game.”

The blue and green will be right back into action this evening (Tuesday) as they host the Flin Flon Bombers.

While Blevins isn’t really concerned about records at this point, a game the next day will get a new group of players out onto the ice and continue to build that culture.

“You want everyone to battle, and you want to make sure everyone’s on their toes, whether you’re a first-year player or a returning player. It’s one of those things, we you want that effort every day and that commitment, and everyone’s got to show it,” he said.

“It’s not unheard of for new players to come in and take spots, we want to hit the ground running, and we want all the competitiveness we can here going into the regular season.”

The organization has three remaining games on the ticket after tonight, which will see them head to Nipawin and Humboldt on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively, along with hosting those same Broncos on Friday night.

The SJHL club will then begin their regular season next Friday (Sept. 22) for their home opener, when the La Ronge Ice Wolves come to town.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8