The Swan Valley Stampeders graduated a strong core of players after advancing to the MJHL Final last season. However, this year's team hasn't really lost a step as they're once again one of the best teams in the league.
After a 3-1 win against their Parkland rival, Dauphin Kings on Wednesday night, the Stampeders are 29-15-4 and they're fourth in the league with their 62 points, which is just two back of Portage for third. Ironically enough, the Stamps' played Portage in the finals last year.
The Stampeders are fuelled by a few local players including Jackson Betcher who scored two goals last night, however, a man from Michigan is also helping the team succeed in a big way. In his first year with the team and first year in Canada, Beerman leads the team with 45 points (14G) in 48 games. He has four more points than Trevor Schroder who is second in team scoring.
"It's been great so far, I have a lot of great chemistry with my linemates and we're making things happen," said Beerman. "I wouldn't be able to have the success I'm having without my linemates. We've had chemistry right from the beginning."
This season's production isn't the first season where Beerman has shown off his offensive talent. In two seasons with Marquette Senior High, Beerman had 29 points (14G) in 41 games between the 2015 and 2017 seasons.
He would then join the Shattuck St. Mary's program where he had 64 points over two seasons.
Swan Valley plays three games this weekend, all of which will be very tough. On Saturday, they play in Winkler, Saturday they're in Winnipeg and they end the set with a game in Steinbach on Monday. Monday's game is a makeup dating back to the snowstorm back in October.
"Things have been going good, but we know we're in tough this weekend," said Beerman. "Things always get harder as the season goes on."
Every week, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League names three players as Stars of the Week. Last week for the first time, Beerman was one of them. In three games played, Luke had four assists.
Beerman joined Kolten Kanaski and Joey Moffatt in the Top-3 last week.
"That was a big honour for me, it was special to be recognized by the league," concluded Beerman. "It''s definitely a boost of confidence for me."
