BENNY WALCHUK:
Good morning everybody, time for the Yorkton Terriers Coaches Show on GX94. I’m joined by Head Coach and GM Emery Olauson after a couple of big wins over the weekend against the Humboldt Broncos. I guess, Coach, I’ll get those two out of the way — it’s got to feel pretty good in that dressing room.
EMERY OLAUSON:
Yeah, it definitely has a calming effect. We thought we were a pretty good team coming into the season. We love our depth and we believe our recruiting was good. But when you don’t get the results early, you can start to get frustrated and question yourself — wondering, “Are we wrong?” I give the guys a lot of credit, though. The belief in that dressing room never changed. We looked at our situation as a huge opportunity — sure, we were in last place in the league, but we knew we weren’t a last-place team. And really, there’s no better test than facing, at the start of the week, the number two team in the nation — one of the frontrunners, one of the teams everyone calls a contender. That’s exactly who you want to face to prove yourself right, and the guys did just that. I was really proud of them.
BENNY WALCHUK:
I guess maybe in particular, what did you like most about your group’s compete level and execution over those last two games?
EMERY OLAUSON:
I thought there was a relentlessness to our game that’s been there most nights — with the exception of that Dauphin exhibition game. We’ve had stretches where we’ve let ourselves down a bit — sometimes after a goal, sometimes after a tough call — but this weekend, we didn’t. We put Humboldt on the power play seven times, and every penalty kill felt like an opportunity to sacrifice more, work harder, and gain momentum. That was a great sign. You talk about the recruiting — when seven of your ten goals on the weekend are scored by first-year junior players, that’s a great sign. All but one or two were by first-year Terriers. That kind of contribution just builds belief in the room exponentially. You’re always hoping your first-year guys can get that first goal and take the pressure off, and this weekend, a bunch of them did. There were pucks being taped up everywhere after the game — we took a lot out of Humboldt, and a lot out of our own stack, just from all those firsts. So yeah, special teams were great, depth was great, and there were so few shifts off. I don’t think we let them off the hook at all.
BENNY WALCHUK:
And now three big tests this week — three divisional games starting with Weyburn. A team you’re trying to get a bit of a read on from that season-opening weekend. Starting with the Red Wings on home ice tomorrow — what are you expecting?
EMERY OLAUSON:
Probably more of the same. They’re opportunistic, and like us, their results have been a mix so far. You watch them one weekend and think, “This team can win tight, low-scoring games,” and then the next weekend looks completely different. It’s still early, so being 6–0 or 0–6 doesn’t tell you much about where teams will end up after 56 games. Right now, it’s about establishing yourself — not proving yourself — and that’s what we’re focused on. We want to continue establishing how we play, and I’m sure Weyburn feels the same. Tomorrow night in Yorkton should be a great game. We felt like we deserved better than just one point on opening weekend, and I’m sure Weyburn feels good after rebounding from that rough home loss. And then, of course, the Melville series speaks for itself. They’re our biggest rivals, and I don’t think there’s a team in the league that wants to beat us more than Melville after last year’s playoffs. But both teams are very different now. It’s about establishing who we are, who they are, and seeing who gets the early edge in the Highway 10 rivalry.
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