The games over the weekend for the Moose Jaw Generals don't have any baring in the win-loss column, but they may have some effect in that area over the course of the rest of the season.

The Generals went 1-3 at the Hockey Academy's 2015 International Midget AAA Showcase in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Despite not seeing results in the win department, Moose Jaw is coming away from the tournament having seen progress in their game.

“Overall I thought we played pretty good,” said head coach Ray Wareham. “They were all low scoring games. We battled, competed and played against older and bigger, stronger guys, so it was a good experience.”

Moose Jaw opened the tournament by falling 4-1 to Jung Adler Mannheim from Germany on Thursday. They lost their next game on Friday, 2-1, to the Winnipeg Thrashers, but bounced back with a 2-1 win over Moose Jaw Warriors prospect Jett Woo and the Winnipeg Wild on Saturday.

The tournament ended with the Generals losing 3-1 to the Sioux Falls Jr. Stampede.

The offence wasn't there throughout the four games for the Generals, but Wareham said that they were right in every game against some very strong teams.

“We were pretty stingy defensively, we did generate some stuff offensively,” he said. “We tried some different line combinations, I thought a couple of the new lines that we made up looked pretty good, so hopefully it will spark something and get us going.”

The one area that didn't get a lift at the tournament was the power play. It has struggled all season for the Generals and they were hoping some tweaks over the weekend would get some momentum going for the unit, but it didn't work out.

“We tried everybody on it and it didn't work,” said Wareham. “It's a little bit of a work in progress right now. At times it looks okay, but other times, it doesn't look good at all. It can be frustrating and I think the kids are getting frustrated with it too.

“If we can get the power play going, it's obviously going to help us and could make us very tough to play against.”

The Generals headed to the tournament in first place in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League with a 12-2-0-3 record. Regina was able to pass them for first over the weekend, but Moose Jaw is just three points back with three games in hand.

Wareham feels that they made some good strides, outside the power play, and are coming back to league play a stronger team.

“This was a good chance for them to see how to prepare themselves, you're away from home, so your routine is a little different,” said Wareham. “That was one area that the team made some good adjustments in.

“Overall, I thought our guys competed hard against some older, tough teams. I can't complain too much because the effort was there and we did get better, so that's encouraging.”

The Generals will return to league play on Thursday night when they host the Notre Dame Hounds at Mosaic Place.