Game Notes Broncos Battle Blades

Online program here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/whl-network/archive/whl.uploads/chl_whl_swift-current/2015/11/27/programnov272015.pdf

 

Game Notes: November 27th vs Saskatoon Blades

The Records: The Broncos are 8-14-2-0 after 24 games. They are 5-5-0-0 at home and 3-9-2-0 on the road. The Broncos sit 6^th in the East Division and 10^th in the East Conference.

The Broncos are 3 points behind Saskatoon in the Eastern Wildcard standings for the 2^nd playoff spot.

Saskatoon is 9-11-3-0 after 23 games. They are 5^th in the East Division, 9^th in the conference and 3 points ahead of Swift Current in the Eastern Wildcard Standings.

Last Game: The Swift Current ended a hellacious 6 game road trip with a 2-1 regulation loss in Cranbrook to the Kootenay Ice last Saturday night. The injury plagued Broncos have lost 6 in a row.

Saskatoon is coming off a 4-2 home ice loss to the Calgary Hitmen Wednesday night.

30^th Season Celebrations: The Broncos celebrate their 30^th Season this weekend with special edition jerseys, their teddy bear toss game tomorrow vs Prince Albert and a 50/50 jackpot of at least $3000 tomorrow night.

VS The Blades: Swift Current is 1-2-0-0 vs Saskatoon this year while the Blades have a 2-1-0-0 record against the Broncos. Broncos captain Jon Martin leads the season series in scoring with 3 goals and 2 assists in those 3 games.

Banged Up Broncos: The Broncos returned from their US road swing with 3 new bodies in sick bay. Tyler Steenbergen is out 3-5 weeks, Glenn Gawdin 2-4 weeks and Jordan Harris is week to week. Jake Debrusk was injured in the November 3^rd game and hasn’t played since. 3 of the Broncos top 4 scorers are on the injury list.

 

Home Ice Debuts: Newly acquired Broncos Kaden Elder and Mark Taraschuk make their home ice Bronco debuts tonight. Elder was acquired November 10^th from Seattle in a 1 for 1 trade for Owen Seidel. Taraschuk arrived in Swift Current yesterday after a Broncos deal with Brandon for Jordan Thomson Wednesday.

Special Teams: The Bronco power play is 18.5% (15/81), which is 13^th best in the WHL. The penalty kill is 72/85. That is 2^nd best in the league at 84.7%.

The Blade power play is 14/98, which is 14.3%, which is 20^th in the 22 team league. Saskatoon’s PK is 90/109, which is 82.6% and 8^th in the league.

New Sheriff in Town: The Bronco players voted Jon Martin as the team captain for the 2015-16 seasons. Glenn Gawdin, Scott Feser and Jake Debrusk will serve as alternates. Martin was acquired early in October from the Kootenay Ice for a 4^th round WHL Bantam Draft pick. Martin currently leads the WHL in goals with 22 and is 3rd in league scoring with 36 points.

Fun Fact: The last two Bronco team captains were former members of the Kootenay Ice organization. 2013-14 and 2014-15 captain Colby Cave was acquired from the Ice in the Cody Eakin trade while current captain Jon Martin came from the Ice this year. *excluding interim captains

Leaders: Jon Martin leads the team and The WHL in goals with 22. Martin is 4^th in the WHL in scoring with 36 points.

Landon Bow leads the WHL in saves with 612.

Jon Martin leads the team in plus minus with a +15. Rookie defenseman Artyom Minulin is 2^nd on the team in plus/minus with +7.

Jon Martin leads the team in power play goals with 3.

Kade Jensen leads the team in penalty minutes with 36.

Debrusk Out 1 week: Bronco forward Jake Debrusk sustained a lower body injury in a 3-1 loss to Victoria November 3^rd. He was scheduled to play for Team WHL in the CHL Canada/Russia Series and was replaced by Dillon Dube of the Kelowna Rockets. He is out of the Bronco line-up for another 1 week.

Heward Back from World U17’s: Broncos assistant coach Jamie Heward has rejoined the team after a stint as assistant coach of Team Canada Red at The 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Heward and Team Canada Red lost to Sweden in the Bronze Medal game Saturday.

Broncos Prospects Shine in U16 Challenge Cup: 3 members of the Broncos Bantam Draft class of 2015 took part in the U16 Challenge Cup in Calgary. Josh Prokop and Jacob Bernard-Docker were a part of Gold Medal winning Team Alberta. 2000 born prospect Riley Stotts led silver medal winners Team Manitoba in scoring. Broncos Assistant General Manager Jamie Porter and Goaltending Coach Derek Purfield also lent their talents to Team Alberta.

Central Scouting with an Eye on Max: Max Lajoie has again received an A level rating by NHL Central Scouting on the players to watch list. Lajoie is a late birthday 1997 born player who is draft eligible in 2016. Lajoie was one of six WHL prospects to get an A level rating earlier this week. An A rating indicates a 1^st round candidate in the NHL entry draft. Swift Current has had first round selections in the last two NHL entry drafts (Julius Honka in 2015, Jake Debrusk in 2015)

Drafted Broncos: Glenn Gawdin was selected in the 4^th round by the St. Louis Blues in 2015. Jake Debrusk was a 2015 first round pick of the Boston Bruins.

Who’s the Best? The WHL recently named its Top 125 players of all time. Fans can vote for their favorites. After fan voting, the greatest all time players in the WHL will be named this season. Former Broncos on the list are: Cody Eakin, Dan Lambert, Adam Lowry, Joe Sakic, Brian Sakic, Bryan Trottier and Tiger Williams.

The Roster: The Broncos have 24 players on their roster.

Imports are Andreas Schumacher from Sweden and Artyom Minulin from Russia.

20 year olds are Jon Martin, Scott Feser and Landon Bow.

There are 5 98’s; Kaden Elder, Tyler Steenbergen, Cole Johnson and Colby Sissons,

12 1997’s; Brendan Holterhus, Mark Tarashuck, Glenn Gawdin, Tristen Elder, Tyler Adams, Conner Chaulk, Brandan Arnold, Kade Jensen, Max Lajoie, Jaydan Gordon and Travis Child.

There are 5 96 born players: Cavin Leth, Jake Debrusk, Andreas Schumacher, Jordan Harris and Calvin Spencer.