The Estevan Bruins kicked off their 60th season in style this weekend, taking both games of a home-and-home against the Melville Millionaires on the opening weekend of SJHL play.

The Bruins took some time to find their stride Friday night in front of the hometown crowd at Affinity Place, but they raised their Viterra Division banner with a win, taking a 4-2 contest from a scrappy but badly outshot Mils team. Matt Luckas made 16 saves in the win for his first SJHL victory.

Despite the 4-2 win, in which the Bruins outshot the Mils 41-18, head coach Chris Lewgood knew he could get more out of his team

"I thought we got away from some of the princples of our work ethic," he said of Friday's effort. "Our back check was only ok at times. I think we did a lot of the work but then let our man go, which accounts for their two goals."

"Offensive zone time coud have been a litle better last night with better positioning, which also relates to hard work."

The Bruins largely solved those problems as they took their act on the road on Saturday. They spoiled Melville’s home opener with a 5-1 victory in which they once again outshot the host squad. Maxim Sidelnik earned his first SJHL win in the contest.

"I thought it was a much better game," Lewgood said of the second game. "The first period kind of looked like last night, but after one we had a good chat in the room and our guys had their minds in the right spot. In the second and third we came out and took this thing over."

It was a weekend of first for the Bruins, as Aigne McGeady-Bruce blasted his first SJHL goal past Mils goalie Colby Entz in the first period of Friday’s action. Not to be outdone, Tanner McKechnie and TJ Irey posted their first SJHL goals in the second period of Saturday’s tilt.

"We work on that almost every day in practice," said Lewgood of McKechnie's tip-in, "and he executed perfectly. You do those things the right way enough times you get rewarded for it, and it was a heck of a skilled play to get a stick on that."

Three Bruins started the season with modest goal-scoring streaks. Zach Goberis scored an empty netter on Friday and followed it up with a shorthanded snipe on Saturday. Michael McChesney and Isaac Embree posted power play goals in back-to-back games.

Embree’s third period tally on Friday night stood as the game winner.

"It was just a good shot on net," Embree said of Johnny Witzke's point shot that created his goal. "We had to get more pucks to the net and it just happened to be right there and I popped it into the back of the net."

The Bruins will spend next weekend on the road, beginning Friday night against the 0-2 Kindersley Klippers. The Bruins will then square off against the Battlefords North Stars on Saturday night ahead of the SJHL showcase in Saskatoon.

Both games will air on Rock 106.