REGINA, SK
Weyburn looking to keep its winning ways
Weyburn was clearly going for it all last year, but head coach/GM Cody Mapes does not know the meaning of the word “rebuild”.
Still, while a very solid core of returners is coming back to Whitecap Resources Centre this year, that core will need to take big steps forward and answer questions if the Wings are to be a Round 1 home-ice-advantage type team once again.
Mapes and his crew have done a marvellous job rebuilding the organization into one feared year-in, year-out since the start of the decade, and so Wings fans should feel safe knowing he knows how to steer the ship, even if there is a bit more uncertainty around the squad than in past years.
Jonah Bierd and Jaxson Doyle lead a physical blue line that will lean on the likes of Sawyer Aquila and newly acquired veteran Matthew Kim to move the puck forward.
Up front, returners Callas Pearce and Aidan Mohan look to have even bigger roles this year, with fixtures Drew Molde, Josh Sale, and Lucas Schmidt graduated. At the same time, expectations will be high for recently acquired attackers Jace Harder (Trail, BCHL) and Nash Nicolay (Drayton Valley, AJHL). As much as Cody likes the two-way make-up of a lot of his forwards, goalscoring might be a work in progress from the start.
The net should belong to Nate Stevens, as some thought it could have been a year ago, and after a breakout rookie performance last season, Weyburn looks to be in safe hands as far as the crease is concerned. Mapes is very high on rookie 18-year-old Ethan Berard, who was signed to push Stevens this year and be the Wings’ goaltender of the future.
Let’s take a look at some key numbers from the last regular season for Weyburn:
SJHL Co-Director of Media Jamie Neugebauer sat down with Head Coach and General Manager Cody Mapes ahead of the 26/27 season and got his thoughts on the upcoming year.
