Ice Wolves declaw Bruins 

The La Ronge Ice Wolves ended a four-game road trip with a gritty 3-2 victory in Estevan Saturday over the Bruins. 

“These guys were just road warriors here tonight,” said Ice Wolves Head Coach and GM Kevin Kaminski. “They sacrificed, they sold out their bodies, man. They spent every cent they had tonight. It was a well-deserved win.” 

Estevan opened the scoring 24 seconds into the game when Mitch Kohner danced into the La Ronge zone and beat Dawson Smith for his sixth of the season. The Ice Wolves tied the game at one 4:39 into the first frame following Mason Bueckert’s first of the season with La Ronge. 

The Ice Wolves took a 2-1 advantage 5:18 into the second when Dylan Handel banged home a rebound past Cam Hrdlicka. La Ronge increased its lead by two 12:46 into the period following Handel’s second of the night. 

“I think I’m just shooting more, feeling a bit more confident,” said La Ronge forward Dylan Handel. “When you see it go in, you want to shoot a little more and you want to feel that confidence each time you get the puck.” 

The Bruins cut the lead to one late in the second when Ilia Chmelevski tallied for Estevan. 

Despite pulling the goalie late, the Bruins were not able to mount the comeback as the Ice Wolves locked things down the rest of the way. Dawson Smith was stellar in the La Ronge net once again, making 29 saves for his 13th victory of the campaign. 

With the win, the Ice Wolves improved to 19-8-1, which vaulted them back into sole possession of second in the SJHL standings. The Ice Wolves posted a 3-1 record on their southern tour of Saskatchewan and collected six out of a possible eight points.

La Ronge will look for its third straight win Wednesday night in North Battleford when they take on the North Stars at 7:30 p.m.