Tonight’s Game vs Prince Albert

BRONCO BANTER:  (Mar. 18^th: Swift Current 3 at Prince Albert 6)  The Swift Current Broncos lost the first half of their home-and-home series with the Prince Albert Raiders falling 6-3 last night at the Art Hauser Centre.  Austin Connor would give the Raiders an early lead slipping one past Bronco netminder Mark Friesen less than three minutes into play.  No more than 20 seconds later, Bronco leading scorer Brad Hoban would strike back netting the game-tying tally following through off of a feed from Bronco Captain Justin Dowling.  By the six minute mark of the opening frame Jonathan Parker and Antoine Corbin would add singles (one on the power play) forcing the Broncos to carry a 3-1 deficit into the second period.  Early into the middle frame, Todd Fiddler and Justin Maylan would add markers to up the Raiders lead to four goals.  But seconds after, Stepan Novotny would light the lamp scoring an unassisted single past Raider netminder Jamie Tucker and closing the gap to 5-2.  Two minutes later, Graeme Craig would be whistled for Checking From Behind allowing Maylan to capitalize on the man advantage scoring his second of the evening and making it 6-2.  The contest would remain scoreless from that point until the halfway mark of the final frame when Taylor Vause would score the lone goal of the third on the power play with helpers from Hoban and Richard Nedomlel making it a 6-3 final.  The Broncos had 38 shots on net while the Raiders had 43.  The Broncos were 1 for 7 on the man advantage whereas the Raiders were 2 for 6.  The Broncos sit at 11^th in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Regina Pats and five behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

TEAM LEADERS:

Goals:            Brad Hoban – – 24                                                     

Points:           Justin Dowling – – 67

Assists:          Justin Dowling – – 47                                                

PIM:              Kyle Verdino – – 149

 

LEAGUE LEADERS:     

Minutes Played (Goalie):     Mark Friesen – 4^th – 3522       

Saves (Goalie):                  Mark Friesen – 4^th – 1761

Shut Outs (Goalie):             Mark Friesen – 2^nd – 6

GAA (Goalie):                     Mark Friesen – 17^th – 3.30       

 

BRONCOS RECORD BOOK:   Justin Dowling is tied at 6^th place with Lawrence Nycholat on the Career Games Played list in the Bronco Record Book having played a total of 280 games.  He is 35 games behind the 5^th place Luke Hunter.  Veteran netminder Mark Friesen sits at 1^st on the Single Season Shutouts list with 6 and 6^th on the Single Season Saves list with 1761.

 

MILESTONES:  Justin Dowling is on a seven game point streak having scored or assisted in every game since the February 5^th Brandon Wheat Kings contest…Reece Scarlett and Stepan Novotny are both two assists away from reaching the 20 assists mark this season…Taylor Vause played his 200^th WHL regular season game last night at the Art Hauser Centre…Brad Hoban notched his 10^th two-point game of the season last night against the Raiders, Hoban has also totaled five points (4G, 1A) in the last two games played.

 

AT HOME: The Broncos are 15-20-0-0 at home this season.

 

REGULAR SEASON VS PRINCE ALBERT:  This will be the eighth and final meeting between the Broncos and the Prince Albert Raiders this season.  The Broncos are currently 6^th in the East Division, two points behind the Regina Pats and 11 behind the Prince Albert Raiders.  The Prince Albert Raiders sit at 4^th in the East Division, six points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings and 21 behind the Moose Jaw Warriors.  The Broncos are currently 3-4-0-0 against the Prince Albert Raiders this season.  5 year record: 22-14-1-0

10-11 score:

Raiders		BRONCOS
5		4		H	1-Oct
3		4		A	29-Oct
1		5		A	5-Nov
2		3		H	12-Nov
6		1		A	9-Feb
6		2		H	1-Mar
6		3		A	18-Mar
				H	19-Mar

VS EAST DIVISION:  The Broncos are 12-24-0-1 against the East Division so far this season.

 

SERIES LEADING SCORERS: Justin Dowling (3G, 5A), Brad Hoban (5G, 3A), Stepan Novotny (7G, 2A) and Taylor Vause (2G, 4A) have all been leading scorers in the Broncos vs. Raiders series this season.

 

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Broncos power-play is 56 for 325, 17.2% (17^th) and the penalty kill is 81.8%, giving up 55 goals on 302 tries (8^th).

 

ROSTER: The Broncos roster currently consists of 26 players. The team has 3 – 20 year old players, 6 – 19 year old players, 6 – 18 year old players, 10 – 17 year old players and 1 – 16 year old player.  Geographically, 14 Broncos are from Alberta, 1 are from Manitoba, 5 are from Saskatchewan, 3 are from BC, 2 are from the Czech Republic and 1 is from Arizona. There are 8 rookies and 18 veterans on the roster.

 

INJURY REPORT:  Killian Hutt is out indefinitely with a concussion…Dillon Wagner is week to week with a knee injury…Jordan Evans is out one week with a concussion.

 

CALL UPS:  Bronco prospect and leading SMAAAHL scorer Graham Black has been called up.  He played his first WHL game on Wednesday night with the Broncos when they took on the Calgary Hitmen.