Eston’s scoring prowess nabs first game win

By Jordan Parker
Your Southwest Media Group

The Eston Ramblers can take their early-season break in stride following an 11-6 trouncing of the Outlook Ice Hawks during first-game action.

The home game at AGT Centre saw a major offensive output from the team, which left three Ramblers with four points or more.

“It was a good game for us. It was good to see goals and all four lines contributing. Hopefully, we keep up that secondary scoring, as it’s so big in senior hockey,” said player Cam Oliphant, who nabbed a goal of his own during the tilt.

“The standard is usually one line produces, but when your defence and secondary players are jumping up, it makes for great hockey.”

Based on their first game, though, there’s one line that stands out in particular: Jesse Mychan, Dylan Smith, and Jesse Ismond accounted for 14 points that game.

“Jesse Mychan – scored six points – and he’s new to the team this year. He’s a big player and plays a heavy game. He looked really good,” said Oliphant.

“They found chemistry, and also, Matt Pufahl played great on the back end. There’s lots of experience among those guys.”

All four are imports, and Oliphant says one key was the team began to gel together partway through the tilt.

“As the game went on, things began to develop. It was so good to see the guys get into a rhythm,” he said. “For guys not used to skating together, it was a good outcome.”

They gave up 51 shots to Outlook, but Oliphant was overall happy with the outcome.

“Our goalie played really well. However, we were giving odd-man rushes and need to cut down on issues,” he said. “The biggest thing coming out of all that was our need to tighten up defensively. We were getting hemmed in down in our end, but we do want to address those shots on goal.”

One thing Oliphant was really happy with was how the powerplay conducted itself first time out. They went 2/3 against the Ice Hawks.

“We looked really good. It was something where we didn’t know what each guy expected. It was nice to see a system where everyone got comfortable and well-positioned,” he said.

He was happy the community came out, and sees plenty to be happy about headed into their next few games this season.

“It was a good crowd, especially compared to last year. It wasn’t full, but there were plenty of people supporting us,” he said.

“All we can do is build off that last win, and keep going forward offensively. We need to work in our own end, not give up rushes, and keep bringing opportunities to the forefront.”

The Eston Ramblers next play the Lucky Lake Lakers on Friday, November 18, 2022 at home.