With four games on tap in the Big Six Hockey League, Friday was a busy night in for the league.

The Midale Mustangs were at home and looking to get to three wins before anyone else could even get three games played, but they were in tough against the defending champion Carnduff Red Devils.

The Red Devils high scoring offense was pivotal in their championship run last year, and only two minutes into the first period, they looked like they hadn't missed a step in the off season. Brandon Trask would pot the first tally for the Red Devils of the game, and Nico Anderson would add another for the visiting team only three minutes later, 2-0 Carnduff after 1.

After an all Red Devils first period, the second wouldn't be much different, another two goals, later in the period from Mark Moriarty and a shorthanded goal from Justin Perry, 4-0. 

Things got a little bit rough in the third period when Mustang's Logan Martinson tried to get things going with a fight against Blake McMillen, but the insuing instigating penalty the Mustangs recieved would lead to the 5th and final goal of the game for Carnduff on the powerplay.

Carnduff 5 - 0 Midale

===============================================================================================================

After a tough over time loss to the Midale Mustangs to start the year off, the Carlyle Cougars visited the Redvers Rockets as they would get their very first game of the season, and it'd be another tight one.

Neither team would take long to get the scoring started as the Rockets' Jordan Miller would put one past Thomas Bauche only thirty seconds into the game, but the visiting Cougars would reply a minute and fourteen seconds later as Billy Greenwood would even the game up, all with less than two minutes played, 1-1 after the first.

Most of the scoring had been done in the first period as with only ten minutes to play Mason Belanger would get the first lead of the game for Carlyle, but again it wouldn't last long before Drew Hoff would tie things up for Redvers once again, 2-2 deadlock after two.

This would leave the game in a deadlock for the rest of the first, and through the second period, but the third would barely get started before the scoring started once again. 

Fourty-four seconds into the third period and the Brady Gaudet would get the lead back for the Redvers Rockets for the first time since the first thirty seconds of the game, and they would hold that 3-2 lead for the rest of the game and their first win of the year.

Carlyle 2 - 3 Redvers

===============================================================================================================

The rivaly between the Oxbow Huskies and the Beinfait Coalers has not been quite as fiery as it has been in the past, but the rivalyry would renew fairly hard for the first time of the 2018-19 season. 

The first goal of the game would get put thanks to Levi Kress of the Coalers, and they'd keep the scoring to themselves for the first period as Blaine Herzberg would get the next one for the Coalers on the powerplay, 2-0 after the first.

The Coalers would continue to roll at the start of the second period. One minute-eleven seconds in Keegan Malaryk made it 3-0 for the visiting team, and the team would add a fourth before Oxbow would finally crack the goose egg on the scoreboard.

With just under two minutes to play, last year's third highest scorer in the league Derek Cooney would get Oxbow on the board, and he'd add a second with the clock showing 31.7 left in the second, setting the stage for a wild third period. 4-2 after 2 periods.

Beinfait would try to snuff the comeback off the opening faceoff of the third period thanks to Dallas Kickley. The Huskies wouldn't be deterred as they'd continue the comeback effort just over three minutes in when Bryson Mayer would get the game back to within two, but again the Coalers would fire back just seconds later thanks to Dylan Herzberg. Coaler Wyatt Garagan added the fifth goal in the first ten minutes of the period.

Two more goals would be added in the busy third, one from Klae Bayda for Oxbow and Preston Erickson with nine minutes left to play, and that would be the final score.

Bienfait 8 - 4 Oxbow

A total of thirty one penalties were handed out throughout the game between the two teams. 

===============================================================================================================

The only other team that hadn't played a game this year yet, the Wawota Flyers, got their season started at home against the Arcola Kisbey Combines.

While other games recieved their scoring in bursts, this game got it consistently thoughout other than the first two goals. Derek Frater got the ball rolling three minutes into the game for the Flyers, and less than a minute later Devin Stewart would make it a 2-0 game. Another three and a half minutes later, the Flyers would pull ahead by three thanks to Frater's second.

That score would stand until four minutes left to play when Jeff Houston got the scoring started for the visiting Combines, and Brady Third would add another with less than a minute in the first to finish the period at 3-2.

Justin Poirer would regain the 2 point lead for Wawota seven minutes into the second, and Ryan Taylor would add another to make it a three goal lead once again. The Combines would battle back late in the period once again as Walker Hengen would another one for Arcola/Kisbey to end the frame at 5-3.

The comeback of the Combines wouldn't be deterred easily in the third even after two goals in the first five minutes from the Flyers, thanks to Taylor Ernst and the hat trick goal for Derek Frater. Down 7-3, the Combines would gain some momentum before the halfway point of the third as they would add two more of their own from Rhett Palmer and Kendall Oliver. 

That would be as close as the Combines would get as Aiden Poirer would shut things down in net for the Flyers for the rest of the game and give them the first win of the season in their own barn.

Arcola/Kisbey 5 - 7 Wawota

===============================================================================================================

LEAGUE NOTES:

Matthew Audette of the Carnduff Red Devils leads the league with 8 points, 7 of which are assists.

Derek Frater's opening night hat-trick for Wawota puts him in a five way tie for goal scoring with Oxbow's Derek Cooney, Midale's Brad Tomiski and Garret Sherlock, and Carnduff's Trevor Geiger.

Carnduff has the top three scorers in the league with Audette (8), Geiger (7), and Justin Perry (6). Every other team's leading scorer has 5 points or less.

The next action in the Big Six is this Tuesday at 8pm in Bienfait as the Coalers host the Carnduff Red Devils.