Swan River's Riley McKay has started his third season in the WHL, but it's with a new team.
After a couple seasons with the Spokane Chiefs, Riley is now a part of the Saskatoon Blades.
And what a start to the season it's been for McKay and the rest of the Blades. They opened up their campaign with two straight wins which included an 8-0 victory against Swift Current on Saturday night.
"We have a really strong team this year," said McKay. "We have a great group of forwards, strong defence and some solid goaltending. I think we could for sure take a run. I've never been on a team that's been so close because everyone just gets along great."
"It's a really exciting time and it's great to know I'm closer to home," he added. "Now some of my family can come out to games and cheer us on."
It sure didn't take long for Riley's family to make the short trip to Saskatoon. On Saturday as the team played their home opener, Riley got his first chance to play in front of the people closest to him in life.
"It means a lot to me that my family can watch me play," said McKay. "They're the ones who have supported me my entire life and dedicated so much of their time to making sure I was all set up to play."
"There was probably about 20 of my family members that were at the home opener, so that was super special," added McKay.
On top of the team's success in the first two games, Riley also enjoyed his own success. He scored one goal and peppered the Broncos goaltenders with eight shots overall.
In the past two seasons with Spokane, McKay recorded just seven goals.
"I'm hoping I can have a pretty solid year," added McKay. "The last couple years I was more of an enforcer out there, but I'm hoping this year I can get on the scoresheet more. I don't want to get away from how I played in the past, I'm just looking to contribute more offensively."
"I worked really hard in the off-season to prepare for this season," said McKay. "And it's starting to pay off which is nice."
