The Steinbach Pistons kicked off their pre-season with the annual rookie game and a 3-1 win over the Selkirk Steelers on Monday afternoon.

The rosters for both teams were made up of players born between 2002 and 2004, with both young teams coming out flying.

There was an excellent pace early on as both teams traded chances before Selkirk scored on the power play to make it 1-0 with under three minutes to play in the first period.

Before the first period was over, the Pistons young guns earned themselves a power play and made no mistake tying the game.

Defender Nolan Bettens fired a shot through from the point and the 2018 6th round pick knotted things up 1-1. Fellow 2018 6th round pick Taggart Plouffe and 2019 4th rounder Kaycee Coyle picked up the assists.

Local boy and 2019 Auto-Protect Ty Paisley was a standout during the contest and showed off his lethal shot as he scored in the second period to give Steinbach a 2-1 lead. Coyle nabbed his second assist of the game.

2004 born goalie Keegan Gordon showed well only allowing one goal and showcasing strong positional play and puck control before switching up with 2017 auto-protect goaltender Cole Oswald. 

Things started to pick up physically as both teams turned up the heat as the horn sounded, leaving Steinbach up 2-1 after 40 minutes.

In the third, Steinbach put the game out of reach when Avery Kirkup, a 2018 4th round pick, scored off a rebound with Coyle collecting his third point of the night along with 2003 born forward Ethan Clements also adding an assist.

The horn sounded and fans were sent home happy from their first game of the year, a 3-1 Pistons win.

Steinbach will host Selkirk again on Friday night but both teams will feature more veteran players and those in training camp looking for spots for the upcoming year. Puck drop is 7:30 pm.

Welcome To Steinbach

With Pistons Power Camp and the Rookie Game in the books, it signals the beginning of main camp and the arrival of the 2019-2020 Steinbach Pistons players.

Many returning players have been in town for a while, including Tanner Mole, Matt Lenz, Declan Graham, Max Neil, Caydin Cleland, Jack Kilroy and Evan Kaufman who all helped out during power camp.

Kyle and Rylan Bettens also have been in Steinbach for a number of days along with Ty Naaykens who was acquired in the summer from the Winnipeg Blues.

Also in that trade was defender Dylan Cassie and forward Codey Behun, both arriving on Sunday.

Curtis Ireland, David Queere, Carter Loney, Danton Belluk, Troy Beauchemin and Lucas Fry also have been spotted.

All returning players, new comers and hopefuls will get things started for real on Tuesday in preparation for the remaining 5 games of the pre-season.