Wayway Coach's Show

Just like last year, we'll have our weekly Coach's Shows on GX94 from Monday to Thursday at 10:45 (SK Time). They'll average about 3 minutes in length.

Monday- Yorkton (Ed Zawatsky)
Tuesday- Wayway (Barry Butler)
Wednesday- Melville (Jamie Fiesel)
Swan Valley- Thursday (Guy Vestby)

I won't type them out every time, but I thought I would today for Wayway.

CS: Barry, it's early in your pre season, you lost 4-3 in Neepawa Saturday night in the rookie game, but the score's not the most important thing in a rookie game, it's about getting a good look at the hopefuls.

Barry Butler: No, you're right. And some guys impressed us quite a bit, and it gave us a chance to evaluate guys and that's what we're looking for. It was a back and forth game, we were up 3-2, then tied 3-3, then 4-3 for Neepawa. The nice part about for both sides, all the kids worked hard, in a rookie game there's a lot of mistakes, but everyone worked hard and there was no goofy stuff in the game and that was great for both sides.

CS: Did you cut the numbers down at all after that game?

BB: Yeah, that's what we use it for, we cut 5 or 7 players after that game, some guys go back to "AAA" Midget, and some guys look at other opportunities or go to Junior 'B'.

CS: You play Neepawa again tonight (TUE), do you use it as another rookie game or do you mix some vets in yet?

BB: No, we're going to use it for another rookie game. We had planned on using the first 2 exhibition games for that. The only vet we'll have in the lineup is the young defenseman we had with us last year from Russell, Jordan Holovach will be playing tonight, otherwise it's all rookies again, guys who've played no Junior Hockey basically.

CS: But it does sound like Neepawa's going to dress a good number of vets, is that concerning at all?

BB: No, I think it's a good test for everybody, it's not concerning at all. We've got our process here and we have to follow it, and they've got their process there and they're following it. So to give everybody a fair look you have to follow your plan and stick to it.

CS: Any other changes over the last week, Western League guys coming in or anything?

BB: Yeah we've had a few young guys come back to us. Richard Little's back from Chilliwack and Zach Sweet's on his way back from Calgary. Steph Robidaux's doing very well in Brandon so he's still in that picture, and there's a couple of older guys we're monitoring to see how they pan out. You hear rumours, but nothing we can really comment on at this point.

Wayway's got a busy week ahead as far as Pre Season action goes:

Tonight vs Neepawa
Wed/Sep/3 @ Swan Valley
Fri/Sep/5 vs Swan Valley
Sat/Sep/6 @ Melville
Mon/Sep/8 vs Melville

Tonight's full exhibition schedule:

SJHL/MJHL Pre Season

Melville Millionaires @ Yorkton Terriers 7:30
Neepawa Natives @ Waywayseecappo Wolverines 7:30 (MB Time)
Estevan Bruins @ Weyburn Red Wings 7:30
Humboldt Broncos @ Battlefords North Stars 7:30
Melfort Mustangs @ OCN Blizzard 7:30 (MB Time)