Broncos vs. Lethbridge

[Big Ern]

Well, what a game tonight, folks!!

The game was a tense one...obviously fans were on the edge of their seats at times, with the Hurricanes coming close to drawing even, but that's what makes the game so exciting. The "W" became the property of the Broncos in the end, and that's what's important.

The offense IMO looked exceptional. Some fans might suggest that we had 10 PP's and could only score on two of them, but considering the fact that the forward line-up received two blows with the absence of Nelson and Weise, I thought the guys played well up front. Stepping up with a HUGE game, was Keegan Dansereau. His talent was showcased in the second goal of the game...what a pretty move. He helped big time tonight, scoring three points. Eric Felde continues to amaze me with tremendous speed, and amazing talent. How great has this trade worked out for the Broncos? Also tonight, the young guys again, got their chances to play. The second line failed a bit, but the team still got five goals, Eakin and Hoban looked amazing. I think the forwards got the job done for the most part. (Remember, Weise and Nelson were missing from the line-up.)

The defense had a good night, but struggled once or twice. I thought our D took some penalties in that second period that were kind of bad. One of them hurt us, as Lethbridge beat Yonkman on the 5 on 3 PP. A bright spot on defense tonight, was R.J. He set the tone very early, dished out a few gut-wrenching hits, and played a great game. And give credit where credit is due...after that second goal by Lethbridge, (which by the way, was a BEAUTY...WOW!..[taking nothing away from them]) our guys came out and locked down the hatches. It's great when a team remains calm, and gets the win, like our defense did at the end of this game. One or two mistakes, but great recovery! That's what counts.

Travis Yonkman was simply amazing. I'm sure everyone witnessed a save he made in the third, as he showcased amazing robotics to commit robbery on a 'Cane in front. (Forgive me...I forgot who the shooter was.) And yes, I'm at the point where I'll make this statement, which I mentioned to Travis once or twice last season...(and I'm DEAD serious): Travis Yonkman reminds me of Dallas goalie, Marty Turco. Turco has an amazing defense in front of him, and seldom faces more than 20 shots per game. Some goalies, when not tested often, get cold back there. Turco remains calm, makes the stops when he has to, and wins the game. So does Yonks. The main thing, is being there when he has to be. That's HUGE!! Awesome stuff from our #1!!

Overall, the game was worth the price of admission, and more. The team found a way to win it with two top guns out of the line-up, and a desperate Lethbridge team. Good job.

8-2-0-1

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!

[Flathead]

Awesome recap Ern, and thanks again for doing a great job with the recaps every game. One thing though, if you look two threads down there is already a thread started for the Lethbridge game, in the future just make sure there isn't a thread already started. Thank you.

[Scout]

Keen's Korner

Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Highlight Reel Goals Pace Broncos to Win
In the words of Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrel Owens, "Getcha Popcorn".

The Swift Current Broncos put on another good show for the I-plex crowd in a 5-2 win over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes to improve to an east division best 8-2-0-1.

The result isn't what Bronco fans will be talking about. Rather the two first period goals from Keegan Dansereau and Erik Felde will be the talk. Felde's coast to coast goal to get the scoring started was also his team leading 8th of the season. What did we give up for this guy again? Right now he's the most explosive player in the WHL. His 16 points ties him with fellow teammate Michael Wilson and Medicine Hat's Tyler Ennis for the league lead.

Keegan Dansereau's "toe-drag" around Luca Sbisa moments later brought the fans off their seat a 2nd time. Dansereau won a race for the puck and then undressed Sbisa with a pretty move and a shot all in one motion. It was almost a "Matrix" like slow-motion moment when Dansereau danced around the d-man for his first of two on the night.

Ryan and I were talking about that goal every commercial break into the 2nd period. I'm sure it's already been downloaded to the Broncos year end highlight file.

Lethbridge didn't go away. They scored a 5-on-3 goal in the 2nd to pull within one. They thought they tied it with a goal at the end of the 2nd period after time had expired. A long shot trickled over the line as time expired. Although clear to us that it was "no-goal" referee Chris Crich signalled a goal and the fans went nuts. The four officials on the ice would convene and eventually wave it off. Upon replay, it was closer than I initially thought but still not in by the time the clock read 0:00.

The third period was a good period for the Broncos as they increased their lead on a 5-on-3 goal from Keegan Dansereau set-up from a nice cross-crease pass from David Steiler. The Hurricanes got the goal right back moments later on a short-handed 3-on-1 break.

Zack Smith off the rush put home an insurance marker with 2:11 to play. Shortly after, Cody Eakin put it away with an empty-netter in the final minute.

----------------------------------

- Bronco fans have been treated to three exciting home games this season. We will see if they can keep it up Saturday night when they host the Prince George Cougars. The Cougars will be playing their 6th and final game of the East division road swing.

- An update now to that Colton Tuebert hit in the last post. The league has handed him a two-game suspension which he will serve this weekend. He popped Moose Jaw's Riley Holzapfel in open ice Sunday night away from the puck. Holzapfel was a scratch in last night's Warriors game.

- After a six game playoff series last year, the Broncos and Regina Pats will play their first of six head-to-head meetings a week from tonight from the Brandt Center.

- Through all of the early success the Broncos are doing it with little to no fanfare. No WHL Player of the Week or any honourable mentions, no CHL Top 10 rankings, and a wait and see attitude from around the league. I think this is the way they prefer it.

And finally I will leave you again with my favorite pre-season prognostication from a few weeks ago.

"The Swift Current Broncos might be the biggest enigma in the division. They haven't scored more than 200 goals in a season since 2003-04 and they'll again be offensively challenged." 5th place in the East. "

Cory Wolfe - Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Getcha popcorn Cory,

Jon

[Scout]

Last updated at 12:22 AM on 17/10/07

Broncos 3-0 on home ice after 5-2 win over Hurricanes
SOUTHWEST BOOSTER SPORTS
The Southwest Booster

Seeking their third straight win on home ice to begin their home schedule, the Swift Current Broncos were led offensively by their top line to a 5-2 win over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

With Dale Weise and Levi Nelson out due to injury, the trio of Erik Felde, Zack Smith, and Keegan Dansereau combined for seven points and accounted for the Broncos first four goals in a hard fought win.

Dansereau led the way with two goals and an assist including a beautiful toe-drag on a helpless Hurricanes defender before snapping a puck past Michael Maniago for a 2-0 first period lead.

Felde opened the scoring with yet another highlight-reel goal that are becoming all too familiar to Broncos fans who have watched Felde energize the iplex in his three home appearances. Felde also added an assist while Smith scored an insurance marker.

Cody Eakin added an empty net goal with 28 seconds remaining.

Zack Boychuk scored on the powerplay for the Hurricanes, while Ben Wright scored shorthanded.

The turning point in the contest may have come at the end of the second period, when trailing 2-1, the Hurricanes slipped a puck past Yonkman as the horn sounded to end the period. With both coaches and a nervous crowd looking on, the officials conversed for a few minutes before ruling that time had elapsed prior to the puck crossing the goal line.

Broncos netminder Travis Yonkman stopped 22 of 24 shots to improve his record to 6-2-0-1.

Michael Maniago stopped 16 of 21 shots to lower his record to 2-4-1-0.

For the 10th time in 11 games the Broncos powerplay connected for at least one goal, scoring twice on 10 opportunities.
The Hurricanes scored once on six powerplays.

The win improved the Broncos East Division leading record to 8-2-0-1.

Broncos’ forward-turned-defenseman Spencer McAvoy thought the Broncos responded well without two key contributors in the lineup due to injury in Weise and Nelson.

“Missing Weise and Nelson was a big shot to our offense and we knew that coming in. The young guys like Eakin and Brown and Hoban, they knew they had to step up, not as much to fill the offensive role but to be smart in our end and good defensively,” said McAvoy. “I thought that we were good tonight with our chips and dumps at the red (line) and I thought that helped out our game a lot.”

McAvoy admitted that with a few games under his belt back on the blueline he is becoming more and more comfortable.
“I am getting way more comfortable back there. Dean and Tim are helping me every practice with footwork and positioning keeping your stick on the ice and that helps out a lot. It is all about positioning, it is a little bit of getting used to, but it is getting better.”

Head Coach/General Manager Dean Chynoweth was understandably pleased with his top trio of Felde, Dansereau, and Smith.

“I am very happy, I think that obviously they were the difference. We definitely made the game very interesting taking the number of penalties we did early, they probably move the puck around as good as anybody in the league.”

Chynoweth called a timeout in the third period with a two man-advantage, and the move paid off with a Dansereau goal only seconds later to stake the Broncos to a 3-1 lead.

“It was not necessarily for designing a play, more for re-emphasizing the structure of what we do in that situation and to give those guys a rest that were still out there. I was waiting and waiting and went with my gut on it thinking that I better call it now. Fortunately it worked out,” explained Chynoweth.

Chynoweth hopes that his team can eliminate mistakes such as the one that led to a shorthanded goal by the Hurricanes to cut the lead to 3-2 only moments after going ahead 3-1.

“We get a little careless at times. It was a big play to get it to 3-1, and to get the opportunity on the 5-3 and then we gave it right back. We definitely made it interesting for the fans that were still around.”

Overall Chynoweth is happy with the three home wins to start the season, but believes there is room for improvement.
“It is good, we want this place to be a tough place to come into. Part of doing that is winning hockey games and playing a certain way. We have been winning the hockey games, but we have been guilty of not being hard to play against for a full 60 minutes. We have some work to do but the points and the wins are definitely important.”

Saturday the Broncos will host the Prince George Cougars before hosting Prince Albert on Tuesday night in their final game of a five-game home stand.

[Johnsy05]

Well, what a game tonight, folks!!

The game was a tense one...obviously fans were on the edge of their seats at times, with the Hurricanes coming close to drawing even, but that's what makes the game so exciting. The "W" became the property of the Broncos in the end, and that's what's important.

The offense IMO looked exceptional. Some fans might suggest that we had 10 PP's and could only score on two of them, but considering the fact that the forward line-up received two blows with the absence of Nelson and Weise, I thought the guys played well up front. Stepping up with a HUGE game, was Keegan Dansereau. His talent was showcased in the second goal of the game...what a pretty move. He helped big time tonight, scoring three points. Eric Felde continues to amaze me with tremendous speed, and amazing talent. How great has this trade worked out for the Broncos? Also tonight, the young guys again, got their chances to play. The second line failed a bit, but the team still got five goals, Eakin and Hoban looked amazing. I think the forwards got the job done for the most part. (Remember, Weise and Nelson were missing from the line-up.)

The defense had a good night, but struggled once or twice. I thought our D took some penalties in that second period that were kind of bad. One of them hurt us, as Lethbridge beat Yonkman on the 5 on 3 PP. A bright spot on defense tonight, was R.J. He set the tone very early, dished out a few gut-wrenching hits, and played a great game. And give credit where credit is due...after that second goal by Lethbridge, (which by the way, was a BEAUTY...WOW!..[taking nothing away from them]) our guys came out and locked down the hatches. It's great when a team remains calm, and gets the win, like our defense did at the end of this game. One or two mistakes, but great recovery! That's what counts.

Travis Yonkman was simply amazing. I'm sure everyone witnessed a save he made in the third, as he showcased amazing robotics to commit robbery on a 'Cane in front. (Forgive me...I forgot who the shooter was.) And yes, I'm at the point where I'll make this statement, which I mentioned to Travis once or twice last season...(and I'm DEAD serious): Travis Yonkman reminds me of Dallas goalie, Marty Turco. Turco has an amazing defense in front of him, and seldom faces more than 20 shots per game. Some goalies, when not tested often, get cold back there. Turco remains calm, makes the stops when he has to, and wins the game. So does Yonks. The main thing, is being there when he has to be. That's HUGE!! Awesome stuff from our #1!!

Overall, the game was worth the price of admission, and more. The team found a way to win it with two top guns out of the line-up, and a desperate Lethbridge team. Good job.

8-2-0-1

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!

Hate to say it But marty turco sucks... That's an insult to Yonks. :D

[Big Ern]

Hate to say it But marty turco sucks... That's an insult to Yonks. :D

Oh don't start me on this one Johnsy! LOL You know Turco is amazing man...come on. :)

[Johnsy05]

Oh don't start me on this one Johnsy! LOL You know Turco is amazing man...come on. :)

haha dammit u didn't take the bait! haha yes i will admit turco is a very very solid goaltender.

[Rocken Rob]

Big E don't get me started with the TACO man.... he is only good at Taco Time....lol...He couldn't hold Yonk's can...

[Big Ern]

Big E don't get me started with the TACO man.... he is only good at Taco Time....lol...He couldn't hold Yonk's can...

HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! OMG Rockin' Rob has finally joined the forum!! LOL!!!

Rob, you say he couldn't hold Yonks' can?

Well, that's fine, but Mikka Kipprusoff's picture is on Marty's toilet paper. HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

Big Ern