Coaches Corner with Dwight McMillan

“We are going to be a faster club, with a higher skill level and solid goaltending,” that’s what Weyburn Red Wings fans should expect this year according to McMillan.

“Kyle McConnell is going to be back in net and we will have some great competition to keep him on his game,” said McMillan.

Along with McConnell in net, the Red Wings have five veteran defencemen that will be returning. They are Mick Pawlyshyn, Stephen Simms, Kyle Haines, Ian Lazar and Connor Krukowski.

The Red Wings also have eight forwards who will be returning, Preston Shupe, Brayden Nargang, Jared Smale, Eric Calibaba, Scott Doody, Josh Bray, Craig Cornelson and Michael Seib. They also received Torrey Lindsay who is expected to be a key contributor offensively along with Bray, Smale, Shupe and Doody.

Although they had to give up 6’3” Sean Bassingthwaite the Red Wings are still going to have a big hard hitting team.

“We lost a few big boys this year, but we are going to replace them with bigger boys who are going to be fighting for a spot on the team. This year we should be a bigger team overall and a lot more grittier,” said McMillan.

Some of the new faces that the organization is excited about are Nick Needham who played last season in the major AAA with the Colorado Wranglers. The native of Elkton, South Dakota scored 25 goals and 30 assists in 60 games played. He will be fighting to gain a spot on defence. A couple Regina boys are expected to make an impact as well. They are Rhett Bly, a 5’10” center who spent last season with the Regina Pat Canadians and Carter Selinger a 5’11” winger who was also spent last season with the Pat Canadians.

The team will get their first chance to play together in a pre season tilt versus the Estevan Bruins on Tuesday, September 4 at the Weyburn Colosseum.

"It will be a great way to see what the boys are going to bring to the table," mentioned McMillan.

“We are gonna mix up the lines and just let the guys get familiar with one another. We have the speed and skill this year. We really weren’t far away last season, keep in mind that we had five rookie defencemen last season and we had to fight through that. This year they are all back with more experience under their belt to help get us where we want to be.”

Posted by Troy K