CARROT RIVER — Two Carrot River Outback Thunder standouts competed against the Prairie Junior Hockey League’s best in the PJHL’s first all-star game in more than a decade.
Carrot River’s own David Wiens, a forward, and defenceman Luc Marleau from Tisdale played for the North in the contest on Jan. 4 in Fort Qu’Appelle. The North fell to the South, 8-7.
“The level of competition for me was the fun part,” Wiens said. “Everyone there played good hockey and knows how to compete. Playing against guys like that makes the game really fun. Also getting to know some other guys that I never knew before was very fun.”
Marleau was solid on the backend for the North. Wiens recorded a pair of assists.
“It’s an awesome accomplishment to see these two here at the first PJHL All-Star game in 12 years,” Outback Thunder general manager Brennan Hall said.
The night before the all-star game, the Outback Thunder started the 2020 portion of their Junior B season. They fell 4-1 on the road to the Saskatoon Westleys. Colten McAvoy had Carrot River’s goal.
“I felt we played pretty well,” said Hall, whose team enters this week with a 10-17-1 record. “A few defensive errors costed us at unfortunate times. Other than those errors, we were right there with them and dominated portions of the game.”
In the final two months of the PJHL season, Hall said the Outback Thunder are focused on getting some balance. “We have issues some nights with playing a complete 60 minutes. We need to play hard 60-minute games going into the last month here, so we can make the playoffs and be prepared once we get there.”
The general manager said the team is working on getting better. In addition, Hall said fans can expect to see the Outback Thunder’s players out in the community in the next few weeks.
The Thunder last week
Friday, Jan. 3 in Saskatoon
Saskatoon Westleys 4, Carrot River 1
Outback Thunder Scorer: Colten McAvoy
Westleys Scorers: Carter Wingert, Dawson Barilla, Colten Adair, Kristopher Prosofsky
Goalies: Steven Soyko, Carrot River, 36 saves on 40 shots; Jake Davidson, Saskatoon, 32 on 33
Notes: The Westleys led 2-0 and 4-1 at the intermissions.
This Week
The Outback Thunder kick off a three-game homestand this coming weekend. The squad hosts the Prince Albert Titans on Saturday and the Saskatoon Westleys on Sunday.
