Scoring against Warriors feels sweet for Denomie
Carson Denomie may have initiated a few colourful discussions at the Brandt Centre on Saturday night, but he also got the last word.
The 19-year-old forward broke a 0-0 stalemate in the second period and jump-started the Regina Pats to a 5-0 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors, who happen to be Denomie’s former team.
Moose Jaw traded him to Regina on Nov. 18, setting the stage for a much-anticipated redemption game.
“(The win) kind of rubs it in their face a little bit, so it’s nice,” he said with a smile.
“They’re obviously going in a different direction and doing a full rebuild. But any time a team trades you, they’re saying they don’t want you anymore, so there’s definitely some motivation.”
Not only did Denomie have a little extra jump in his step on Saturday, he also enjoyed some good-natured trash talk with former teammates. Most of those conversations involved Tate Popple, who was one of Denomie’s best friends with Moose Jaw.
“There was quite a bit of back and forth,” he said.
“It’s all on-ice stuff. Off the ice we’re always going to be good buddies. But there was definitely some jawing back and forth.”
Saturday’s contest was more one-sided, but it didn’t begin that way.
The Pats and Warriors were tied at zeros more than halfway through the game when Denomie stepped out of the penalty box and was greeted by a lead pass from Austin Pratt. Denomie walked in alone and drilled a shot into the top glove-hand corner on goalie Adam Evanoff.
“It obviously feels really good,” said Denomie, who had been held off the score sheet 24 hours earlier in Regina’s 5-2 win at Mosaic
Place. “I was trying to score (Friday) night too. To finally get one is a nice feeling.”
Denomie has been a key contributor for the Pats, especially by helping jolt their production with the man advantage. He leads Regina with seven power-play markers and sits fourth overall on the team with nine goals and 24 points in 34 games — split between the Pats and Warriors.
Denomie’s key contributions are just part of the reason why he has embraced the opportunity to play for his hometown team.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more coming home,” said the Regina native.
“The guys are awesome — super welcoming. I kind of fit in right from the first day I got here. It’s a close-knit team. We all hang out together. It’s a good dynamic around the dressing room.” Winning doesn’t hurt, either. Regina had just three victories before Denomie arrived but — in a little over a month with the club — that total has swelled to 10.
“They were going through a rough patch,” he said of the Pats. “It was a down feeling obviously any time you don’t win. But lately we’ve been rolling and really building our momentum. It’s a great feeling in the dressing room. Everybody is excited to come to the rink every day. That’s kind of what you want.”
Denomie also wanted to beat the Warriors. He did it twice on the weekend, which helped Regina move another step closer to rejoining the WHL post-season hunt.
“That was the biggest part of these games, especially just for the standings and trying to make our push for the playoffs,” he added. “We knew these points were big against a division team. It’s just kind of the cherry on top to do it against your former team.”