Getting beat up the night before their home opener might have been the best thing to happen to Estevan Devils players Rhett Handley, River Lafferty, and Trey Anderson.The three were midget call-ups Saturday as the Estevan Big Dogs junior team opened its season with the most penalty-filled game in team history.Sunday they were back in Estevan for the Devils' home opener against the Regina Blue Devils at the Lignite Miners Centre and the benefits were evident.Handley had five goals and an assist, while Lafferty had two goals and two assists and Anderson turned in his best performance of the young season in net as Estevan dropped to 0-3 with the 17-8 loss."Even from the first two games we played to this one you can see they're faster," said Devils coach Evan Handley. "They know here they have more time with the ball. They're trying stuff they wouldn't try before."We got absolutely beat on in Moose Jaw last night. Now they know they can go through and they're not going to get hurt, which is good."The optimism over the lopsided result was all about improvement.Estevan played the Blue Devils in its season opener, losing 22-1. Sunday's game was tied 2-2 after the first period.It was also an improvement offensively, as the Devils almost doubled their goal total from the previous two games combined. Sandwiched between the Blue Devils meetings was a 15-4 road loss to the Regina Bandits.And then there was the small matter of the Devils' fifth goal, an early candidate for goal of the year.Less than a minute into the third period Lafferty and Handley raced up the floor, Lafferty to the left of Blue Devils goalie Jeremy Kretschmer and Handley to the right.Under pressure, Lafferty lobbed a high pass across the crease that Rhett Handley had to jump to catch. Still in the air, Handley found just enough space to shoot and bounced the ball off the floor and into the Regina net behind Kretschmer."We're playing better defence, we're passing the ball better, and we realize we can't stand around and watch the ball," said Evan Handley. "It's still a work in progress but each game's getting better."We're getting closer, and it's minor sports. You're going to have to learn. You're going to have to grow as an athlete and as a person. So I think this is something that they're going to grow from."Jesse Collins scored the Devils' other goal Sunday while Wayde Curzon chipped in with three assists.The Devils return to Regina to face the Blue Devils for the third time in four games Thursday. They'll face Moose Jaw at home Sunday. Game time is 3:30 p.m. at the LMC."They're doing very well and as the year goes on everybody on the team's going to get much better," said Handley. "By the end of the year our games are going to be really tight and really close."
