ROAD WARRIORS

The Weyburn Red Wings won’t play their first home game until Oct. 17 when they face off against the Notre Dame Hounds.

Renovations to Crescent Point Place forced the Red Wings to play their first 13 games on the road prior to their 
home opener.

“We just wanted to have a good start, keep our head above water and then go from there,” Weyburn captain Preston Shupe told SJ This Week.

With a 5-5 record through their first 10 games away from Crescent Point Place, the Red Wings haven’t fared too poorly.

“We knew we were going to have a strong team coming back,” Shupe said. “We have a good nucleus of guys.”

NEW FACES GALORE

Part of life in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is adapting to new faces in the lineup every season.

With SJHL squads allowed to carry nine 20-year-old players, that means each team graduates several players in the off-season leaving room for rookies to crack the roster.

“We have a lot of young guys, so it’s going to be a little bit of a rocky start,” Weyburn assistant captain Nick Needham told SJ This Week.

So far rookie Weyburn forward Brock Appleyard has enjoyed the transition from playing at the AAA Midget level to the faster Junior A game.

“It’s just been a learning process for me right now,” said Appleyard, who has confidence he can do well playing on a line with rookie twin forwards Shawn and Rodney Cowie. “We work very well together. If you put the puck on their sticks, it’s going to go in the net pretty much. If they give me the puck and I’ve got a scoring opportunity, I should be able to put the puck in the net too.”