On a Season Opening home stand of hockey where the Saints would play host to two teams named the Thunder and the Storm, not a cloud in the sky could be seen. In fact it was the Saints that got to play the role of Mother Nature and dampen the spirits of the 2 visiting teams, as they skated away with consecutive victories of 5-2 against the Thunder and 3-1 against the Storm.
Although with the unseasonably warm weather brings other issues to hockey. When asked about the condition of the ice, due to the warm weather, Coach Jason Mckee said it didn't factor into changing the game plan, but concentrating harder on the fundamentals. “We just wanted to make sure that we were passing the puck hard, and being very diligent about being hard on our sticks and understanding that it was going to be a little sticky out there. We were preparing for it, going into our pregame warm-up, and it was a focus for us in our pregame speech.”
Though the ice was not up to par, Coach Mckee thought that our boys were, and this weekend was vast improvement over the first two games on the season that saw the Saints drop both decisions by scores of 3-2 and 4-0 in Fort McMurray. “I think guys are getting more comfortable with our systems and each other, and I thought our last game against Grande Prairie was our best game of the 4 that we have played so far. Now we have a week of practice to get better again and see where we are at next weekend.”
This coming Friday the Saints finish off their home stand against the visiting Bonnyville Pontiacs, game time is 7pm at the Grant Fuhr Arena.
