The outcome wasn’t what the Moose Jaw Generals had anticipated, but progress was made and the learning continued.
The Generals travelled to Calgary to take on Edge Academy and finished with a 1-2 record in the exhibition series.
“It went pretty good,” said Ray Wareham, head coach of the Generals. “I thought the guys competed hard all weekend.”
After a long trip, the team opened with a 3-1 loss on Friday, despite out shooting the Mountaineers 48-20.
“I thought we played pretty good, but there were just so many penalties and there was no flow and it was hard to get into,” he said. “But, I thought the guys battled and worked through the adversity.”
Rhett Gardner scored the lone goal for the Generals, while Grant Naherniak saw his first game action in the pre-season, stopping 17 of 20 shots.
The Generals started bantam call-up Matthew Flath from Hafford on Saturday afternoon and dropped a 5-2 loss. Ben Duperreault and Ben Verrall provided the scoring for the Generals while Flath stopped 35 of 40 shots he faced.
“I thought we played a little bit better,” said Wareham. “We were able to start our bantam goalie…there are probably a couple that he’d like to have back, but he played pretty good.”
The Generals bounced back with a 5-3 victory on Sunday. Gardner, Donovan Neuls, Duperreault, Tendler and bantam call-up Kolby Johnson from Kindersley provided the goals. Ryland Pashovitz got the start in net for the Generals and stopped 36 for 39 shots he faced.
“We played better and got better as the game went on,” he said. “We played a real solid game on Sunday.”
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
