The Carman Beavers opened their South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League (SEMHL) 2023-24 campaign with a 6-3 loss to the Red River Wild.
In a back-and-forth affair on Oct. 28, the teams were deadlocked at 3-3 in the third period when the Red River squad pulled away with three unanswered goals late in the period to win the game 6-3.
Tristan Day, Brock Schwaluk and A.J. Nychuk scored the Beavers’ goals on the night. Luke Zacharias stopped 42 shots in goal for Carman in the loss.
Despite the opening night loss, Beavers’ head coach, Mark Klassen, is excited at the prospect of a new season and a fresh slate.
“We’re excited for the season coming up as we have a lot of the same players returning, plus a couple of new additions,” said Klassen. “Last year didn’t go the way we wanted, but we completely rebuilt our team as we were the youngest team in the whole league. With another year of experience under our belt, we’ll be ready for this upcoming season of senior hockey.”
In addition to the local players on the club, the Beavers boast a pair of imports in Tanner Mole and Tristan Culleton, who are both former members of the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons.
“I’m excited with how much speed we’re going to bring every game, the effort we got, and the guys we have in the room,” said Klassen. “And we’re excited to see the leadership that Ben Dalke, Tanner Mole and Fraser Mirrlees will bring to the team.”
“We’re trying to get the team to buy into playing team defence more, which I think comes to experience. I think everyone’s coming into the season a little more excited, so we’ll see what we can do.”
The Beavers are back in action with a home game against the Altona Maroons on Nov. 2. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
