September 26 - In front of a large 1,000 near-capacity crowd at T.G. Smith Centennial Arena in Steinbach, MB, the Manitoba Moose Prospects defeated the Manitoba Moose by a score of 7-1 on Wednesday, September 26.

In a final pre-season game prior to the start of the Canada West season for the Bisons, head coach Don MacGillivray will have some decisions to make after a spirited effort.

“We were better as a team as the game progressed. There is lots of room for improvement and it was a great test for us,” stated MacGillivray. “We recognize as a team we must work together to achieve our goal and the Moose had the better execution than us tonight.”

In the first, Krister Toews started the game and made some solid saves to keep the game close early. He couldn’t stop Moose forward Matt Robinson as he streaked down the left wing and fired a quick snap shot past him. The Bisons took the first penalty of the match at 9:36 of the first and the Moose went on the power play. Only 23 seconds later, Robinson had his second goal of the contest after Toews went a wandering’ behind his net and Robinson intercepted his pass.

The Bisons did not have much action in front of Moose goalie Andy Franck during their first power play opportunity and the Moose Prospects responded with a nifty two-on-one with Dirk Southern converting a pass by Milan Gajic. Defenceman Dylan Yeo fired a seeing eye rocket past Krister with three minutes remaining. The Bisons found the back of the net when Colin Lafreniere shot the puck and was deflected over Franck shoulder. Steinbach native and Bison captain Rob Smith had one of the assists while Rick Wood with the other. After one, Moose Prospects led 4-1.


In the second, the Bisons had an early power play but the Moose Prospects notched a shorthanded marker when Peder Skinner received an errant pass from Smith and snap a shot between Toews legs. After another Moose goal, the Bisons changed goalies at the midway point and Bisons’ netminder Steve Christie made a glove save on Cody Thornton on a breakaway. The Moose Prospects struck again on the power play when Bracken Kearns had a wide open net after a deflection to make it 7-1 with five minutes left in the period.

In the last period, the Bisons had a strong 20 minutes with no goals allowed. Christie making a point blank save on Robinson. Nick Cowan missed a deflection tip on the power play and the line of Mike Hellyer, Wood and Chris Falloon were dangerous with a couple of near misses at the end of the game.

The Bisons will now prepare for their Canada West season opener series on the road against the Regina Cougars on October 5-6.