On the first night of exhibition play in the Western Hockey League for the 2018 - 2019 season, it didn't take long for some familiar names to make their marks.

Keegan Slaney, who was drafted in the first round by the Edmonton Oil Kings after playing last season with the Airdrie AAA Bantam Xtreme, had an assist on the Oil King's first goal of the night.  Edmonton went on to lose the game 6 - 5 to the Red Deer Rebels.

Caleb Willms, who was with the Airdrie AAA Midget Bisons last season came through with a pair of assists for the Medicine Hat Tigers in their game with Lethbridge.  The Hurricanes prevailed 5 - 4 in overtime.

And Cochrane's Connor Bouchard scored the winning goal in the Tri-City American's 4 - 3 win over the Everett Silvertips.

The top local Bantam draft pick, Craig Armstrong, who was selected from the Xtreme with the 9th overall pick by the Prince George Cougars suited up for the team last night but didn't factor in the scoring since the Cougars didn't actually do any.  They were blanked 5 - 0 by the Kamloops Blazers.

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