Game 27 vs. Portland
In Kootenay on Saturday night, the Broncos came back from a 2-0 deficit in the first period to tie things up at 2-2 heading into the 2nd
The Ice offense would come alive in the 2nd period, scoring 3 goals in just over 3 minutes en route to a 7-3 victory
Daniel Rakos added to his team leading 8 goals with his 9th of the season while Dale Weise and Phil Gervais added the Broncos other goals
Travis Yonkman and Kyle Moir split the duties in goal for the Broncos with Yonkman getting pulled from the game after Kootenay’s 5th goal
The Broncos were outshot 38-33 in the game, but recorded more than 30 shots in back to back games this weekend for the first time in nearly a month
The Broncos power play was 0 for 5 against Kootenay, marking the 8th time this season they were not able to score a power play goal in a game.
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NUMBERS: The Swift Current Broncos offense is led by 18-year-old forward Levi Nelson
Nelson has recorded 4 goals and 14 assists after 26 games this season and is on a current 4 game point streak, tying the Broncos season high set previously by Michael Wilson
He has not gone more than 3 games in a row without recording a point this season while his 14 assists are 5 more than anybody else
Meanwhile, Daniel Rakos is leading the Broncos in goals with 9, as well as penalty minutes with 58
Rakos is a team worst 8 while Brady Leavold is a team best +3
Zack Smith and Kyle Bortis lead the Broncos roster with 2 game winning goals each
Bortis’ 4 multi point games are tops on the Broncos
Goaltender Kyle Moir is 6th in the WHL with a .913 save percentage to go along with a 2.99 goals against average and 3 shutouts
Moir’s 3 shutouts trail only Leland Irving (5) of the Everett Silvertips for first in the league
As a team, the Broncos are beginning to find some balance in shots
The club is average 27 shots for per game, their highest average of the season
The team is scoring 2.3 goals per game while they are allowing 3.0 per game
The Broncos are an impressive 9-1-0-0 when scoring first and have not lost when leading after 40 minutes of play (8-0-0-0)
The teams 691 penalty minutes lead the entire Western Hockey League
The Chilliwack Bruins are 2nd with 622.
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SPECIAL TEAMS: The Broncos power play has struggled in 2006/07, operating at just an 11.1% success rate
The next worst power play is that of the Kelowna Rockets, who are operating at 12.6%
The Broncos have allowed 8 shorthanded goals against this season
Prince Albert leads the WHL in that category with 9
Daniel Rakos has a team best 5 power play goals while Michael Wilson leads the way with 8 power play assists
Despite their troubles on the power play, the Broncos have had another strong start on the penalty kill
Their 84.3% efficiency rating is 4th in the WHL.
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VS LAST SEASON: The Broncos have seen a big improvement to their overall record when compared to 2005/06
Last season through 26 games the Broncos had a record of 8-14-0-4
The club had identical stats with an average of 27 shots for per game and 2.3 goals for per game
Ned Lukacevic led the team with 23 points (11G; 12A) while Jeremy Schenderling was tops on the Broncos roster with 15 goals
The Broncos had 543 penalty minutes after 26 games in 2005/06 compared to 691 this season.
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rROSTER: The Broncos enter tonight’s action with a 23-man roster that includes 13 forwards, 8 defenseman, and 2 goaltenders The team has 3 20 year old players, 5 19 year old players, 8 18 year old players, 5 17 year old players, and 2 16 year old players By location, the Broncos have 4 Saskatchewan born players, 8 Alberta born players, 6 British Columbia born players, 3 Manitoba born players, and 2 Czech Republic players.
