Game Notes vs Saskatoon – Jan 2

The Swift Current Broncos didn’t start the new year off as planned as they lost 8-2 to the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the ENMAX Centre last night. The Hurricanes’ Jacob Berglund would start the scoring off late in the first giving his team an early lead. Austin Fyten would waste no time putting the Hurricanes up by two, scoring four minutes later.  The Hurricanes would maintain a 2-0 lead until early into the second when Taylor Vause would put the Broncos on the board with help from teammate Andy Blanke making it a 2-1 game. Hurricanes’ Cam Braes would restore the teams two goal lead less than a minute later resulting in a Broncos goaltender change as Derek Tendler would fill in for netminder Mark Friesen.  Justin Dowling and Graeme Craig would help Broncos’ Trevor Cameron notch his first WHL goal and close the gap making it a 3-2 game roughly halfway through the second.  A tripping call to Broncos’ Jordan Peddle would allow Fyten to capitalize and put the Hurricanes up by two for the third time.  Hurricanes’ Cam Braes would follow with a single soon after and Fyten would wrap up the second period with a shorthanded goal thus earning a hat trick and forcing the Broncos to trail 6-2 into the third. Hurricanes’ Mitch Maxwell would put one past Broncos’ netminder Tendler four minutes into the third making it 7-2 and resulting in the second Broncos goaltender change of the night as Friesen would finish the game in net.  Hurricanes’ Sutter would score the final goal of the contest shortly after making it a 8-2 final. The Broncos were 0 for 9 on the power play while the Hurricanes were 1 for 5. The Broncos outshot the Hurricanes 31-25.  The Broncos sit at seventh place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Edmonton Oil Kings and nine behind the Moose Jaw Warriors.

BRONCOS RECORD BOOK:   Justin Dowling is currently sits at 12th on the Career Games Played list in the Broncos Record Book having played a total of 259 games, two games behind 11th place Layne Ulmer and Keith McCambridge.

DID YOU KNOW:  Reece Scarlett is one assist away from the 20 mark…Jordan Peddle is three points away from reaching the 50 point career mark…Dillon Wagner is one point away from reaching 50 career points…Adam Lowry is three games away from playing 100 career games…Taylor Vause is currently on a three game point streak scoring a goal or assist in every game since the December 28th match up with the Regina Pats.

AT HOME: The Broncos are 10-8-0-0 at home this season.

REGULAR SEASON VS SASKATOON:  This will be the fourth of eight meetings between the Broncos and the Saskatoon Blades this season.  The Broncos are currently 3rd in the East Division, nine points behind the Moose Jaw Warriors and 20 behind the Saskatoon Blades.  The Saskatoon Blades sit at 1st in the East Division, 11 points ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors.  The Broncos are currently 0-3 against the Blades this season.  5 year record: 13-12-0-2

10-11 score:

VS EAST DIVISION:  The Broncos are 8-10-0-1 against the East Division so far this season.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Broncos power-play is 38 for 204, 18.6% (13th) and the penalty kill is 84.8%, giving up 27 goals on 178 tries (3rd).

EAKIN UPDATE:  Cody Eakin and Team Canada fell to Team Sweden in a shoot out with a score of 6-5 yesterday.  Canada will take on Switzerland in the Quarter-finals today at 3:30PM Eastern.

U-17 CHALLENGE:  Shea Howorko and listed player Sutton Olson have been playing for Team West in the 2011 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.  Team West is currently 1-2 in the preliminary games, losing to Team Pacific (5-2) on Wednesday, defeating Team Czech Republic (5-2) Friday night and falling to Team Ontario (4-3) last night. 

ROSTER: The Broncos roster currently consists of 26 players. The team has 3 – 20 year old players, 8 – 19 year old players, 6 – 18 year old players, 8 – 17 year old players, and 1 – 16 year old player. Geographically, 13 Broncos are from Alberta, 2 are from Manitoba, 4 are from Saskatchewan, 4 are from BC, 2 are from the Czech Republic and 1 is from Arizona. There are 7 rookies and 19 veterans on the roster.

TRANSFERS:  Earlier in the week, the Swift Current Broncos acquired 18-year old defenceman Dalton Reum from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for 19-year old defenceman Joel Rogers.

INJURY REPORT:  Brenden Silvester is out indefinitely with a back injury…Tanner Muth is week to week with a fractured clavicle…Killian Hutt is out indefinitely with a concussion…Josh Derko is week to week with a broken hand.

UPCOMING GAMES:  The Broncos host the Calgary Hitmen on Thursday, Jan.6th.  The game will be live on SHAW TV.  Then, they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Credit Union i-Plex on Jan 7th.

DRAFTED BRONCOS: Cody Eakin – 3rd Round, 85th Overall (Washington ’09).