Someone once said that adversity doesn't always build character but it often shows if you've got it or not.
And there are a lot of members of the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins who clearly have more character than anyone could have given them credit for.
Think back to earlier this season in January, when they were losing as many as they were winning and dropping games to teams like Yorkton who had no playoff aspirations. They went on a lengthy road trip when the Tankard was at Affinity Place and came back from that better prepared on the ice. They only lost two games February after coming back for their first game Feb. 14, both of those games to Weyburn.
The Bruins fought doggedly and consistently to improve their overall standing even after clinching a division title over the Red Wings. That work helped them get fourth place overall and avoided a potentially troublesome semifinal appearance against the Nipawin Hawks. And while they know know they can compete with the Hawks, the Battlefords North Stars stood out as a potential second round opponent if the chips fell where they needed to, and the Bruins took care of the grudges of several former Bruins by knocking out the team that knocked them out three of the past four seasons.
So the Bruins took care of the first round opponent, the tall, not-exactly-clean Kindersley Klippers, and went through the first three games of the Battlefords series without so much as giving up the first goal. In Game 4 when they did have a hiccup and lost their starting goaltender Bo Didur to injury, they lost that game and gave up the first two goals in Game 5. Undaunted, still focussed, they roared back and won that game 5-2.
And so we come to this week. When the Humboldt bus crash happened April 6, there was no clear indication if the league would be able to continue the season. As the days went by and the world poured itself into the tragedy, sharing in grief, there was a legitimate question as to how players would be able to focus on hockey.
The Bruins are playing the Hawks by the way. The Hawks were the first place team in the league, have the co-goaltender of the year in Declan Hobbs and the coach of the year in Doug Johnson. On paper, this is the kind of matchup. But this is the same Bruins team that in this playoff run has dispatched of the league's player of the year, Layne Young of the Battlefords, and the leagues other co-goaltender of the year in Kindersley's Justen Close. The Bruins don't really seem to be intimidated by the amount of trophies the other guy has won.
When national media has giant microphones and cameras asking you how you're dealing with adversity, you're in a weird place. When Tom Cochrane starts re-writing some of the lyrics to his classic hit Big League because of something that you're in the epicentre of, you're in a totally strange, unfamiliar land to which there is no road nap.
They went up here, saw the site, shared tears and prayers and went on with laser-like focus. Saturday's morning skate was quiet and intense, but no one was snapping at each other. Drills were executed and players returned to their positions.
The Bruins stood side by side with the Hawks to thank the first responders Saturday night, gave up the first power play chance and then he first power play goal. Kaelan Holt, perhaps one of the most thoughtful junior hockey players I've come across, scored moments later on a Bruins power play and everything felt normal again. You could almost see the sigh of relief on the team.
As the game went on, Didur got a lot of traffic in front of him but he got better and better. Arthur Miller had the confidence to rip a slapshot by Hobbs. And the Bruins celebrated their well-earned Game 1 win calmly but happily.
It makes an observer ask: where did they get this ability to see themselves through the opening part of this series? And what else are they capable of accomplishing?
