There was a good crowd on hand at the Battleford Arena for the first ever Saskatchewan Prairie Hockey game between the Battleford Beaver Blues and the Radisson Wheatkings.
Senior hockey is back in the Battlefords, but unfortunately for the home team, Radisson earned the 9-6 win.
Jade Boklaschuk and Brad Wanner led the offence for Radisson with a goal and assist each. Joey Mychan had two goals, Troy Rookes scored once and had two assists and Dylan Yaremko and Bill Gallagher had singles. Cameron Stott had four assists, Jeff Heimark had two and Craig Poggemiller had one.
For the Beaver Blues, Blaine Weber led the way with two goals and an assist. Devin Esquirol, Brett Michnik and Mike Whitwell had a goal and an assist each. Dillon Friesen was the other goal scorer for Battleford. Les Taylor had two assists, Cody Bartusek, Todd Heck and Mitch Phillips had assists.
Nathan Wurst was the winning goalie while Ryan Sabin took the loss.
The Beaver Blues led after two periods, but Radisson scored two goals on a five-on-three powerplay early in the third. That was the turning point for the Wheatkings.
There were some big hits on both sides, as expected, if the first game was any indication it appears the league should be quite balanced and could make for an exciting brand of local senior hockey to watch.
