No Recap Ern??

[Flathead]

Awaiting your recap of last nights game Ern.

[Big Ern]

Awaiting your recap of last nights game Ern.

Sorry about that, FLATHEAD. It hasn't been the best day for me. I broke my car windshield this morning. That kinda' sucked. I did type up a recap....and it was a great one.....four paragraphs long. That is, until I had it highlighted and hit "DELETE" on my computer for some reason. The result was ugly. I think I hit my computer so hard I wrecked the screen. Boogaard'd Whatever. It's been a "Hamilton Tigercats type of day" for me. HAHAHA.

I'll type up a short one instead.

The first period was great. Zack Smith scored a beauty on a wrap-around, which got the sold out crowd going, and everyone on the ice continued to do their job. The Cougars of course, replied with a PP goal by Dana Tyrell, but that was about all the space they would get. However, the Broncos needed to get their offense going.

They did that completely in the second period. Clearly, the Cougars directed too much attention towards Dansereau and Felde, and forgot about the rest of our team. R.J. LaRochelle proved that it helps to shoot the puck at the net in any situation, as a shot by him found it's way into the net to make it 2-1 Swift Current. That was followed by a PP goal from Spencer McAvoy, and a goal from Dowling, his first in the WHL. It looked really great for the Broncos after two periods of play. Up 4-1, and starting the third with 1:42 of 5 on 3 PP.

The third period is the one I'm sure everyone wants to forget. I think the team collapsed. As mentioned in a few other posts, they had the wrong attitude going in, and didn't keep up the pressure. Ian Curtis had a rough night. He allowed three goals shot at him from the blue line, all in that third period. But the puck has to go through three forwards and two defensemen before it gets to the goalie, so you know what that means. The rest of the team really turned off the pressure. It was awful. Also, the Broncos' PP spun it's wheels, going 0 for 2 in that third period.

The Broncos should not even have been in an OT situation, but having said that, I thought the OT was entertaining. They got another power play in overtime, and although the PP kinda' struggled all game, I thought the PP in the OT period put on a lot of pressure. There were some bounces that didn't go Swift Current's way, so we went on to the SO.

I have to say, I smelled a loss all the way. If you're going to play that awful in the third period and let a team come back, there's a price to pay. The hockey gods make sure of that. After that third period, it just was not to be for the Broncos last night.

NOTES:

-Ian Curtis has something to prove. Expect a big rebound effort from him next time he gets a chance to play. Curty is a way better goalie than what showed last night IMO. He'll be back.

-there was some concern with Erik Felde mis-firing on the power play. His sights didn't seem to be set properly last night. As I mentioned earlier, the Cougars paid too much attention to him and Dansereau, which means had Levi Nelson and Dale Weise been in the line-up, the game would likely have been 6-1 or 7-1 after two periods. We all know how talented Erik Felde is. Look for him to get some points next game.

-this was a lesson learned for our team. It's better to learn this now, than in game #7 of the playoffs. The loss no doubt was a valuable experience. You learn from your mistakes.

-through all of the frustration after the game, the effort of the rookies was forgotten. Eakin, Hoban, Dowling, Brown, and Rogers cannot be blamed for this loss. They played better out there than some of our veterans.

-look for a great effort this Tuesday.

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!

There you have it FLATHEAD. I'll copy this recap right now, in case of unexpected deletion, and also to save my computer screen. HAHA.

[Flathead]

Thanks Ern, good job. Ya, without Weise and Nelson teams can focus a little more on Felde and Dansereau. A full 60 minutes though last night and we would have won. Our rookies really don't look like rookies out their. I really like how we are playing right now without Weise and Nelson. If we keep up the efforts for a whole 60 minutes and get Weise and Nelson back, look out!!!

[Scout]

Switzer's Blog
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Broncos Get a Point

Swift blew a 4-1 lead last night and lost 5-4 in a shoot out to Prince George. What happened has been covered on Keen's Blog.

This loss in this fashion is a good thing. A 72 game schedule prepares a team for the playoffs. A team needs to experience all the highs and lows in that season to get ready for the post season. This is a lesson learned early in the year. Do you think the Broncos will take their foot off the gas against a cellar dwelling team again this year? If they're in round 1 of the playoffs against a team that finished below them in the standings, will they take their foot off the throat of a team they have down? Not likely after last night. This is two games they have let teams outwork them in the 3rd period to force extra time. They got lucky against Red Deer, luck was on PG's side last night.

The more close games you're in...the better prepared for playoffs you are.

Plus, special teams win games. It's not always the powerplay. PG owes that win to their penalty killers. The Gardner kid showed why he's wearing the C. PG's goalie, Real Cyr will steal some games too.

PG scrapped through 60 minutes, and where rewarded with some...less than highlight reel goals.

I hate picking three stars. Just so you know.

The hockey portion of this blog ends now.

[Scout]

Keen's Korner

Sunday, October 21, 2007
Random Takes
- Best line of the weekend? Colorman Ryan Switzer describing Prince George 6'8" 240 pound defenseman Patrik Magnusson. "Six-foot-eight Patrik Magnusson hails from Sweden. His hobbies include climbing tall buildings and swatting at airplanes."

- Honorable mentions to Broncos Assistant Coach Tim Kehler who told me in the post-game coaches show to "cheer up Keener, it could be worse".

- The Broncos held a Community skate today at the I-plex. From what I hear it was well attended. Tomorrow I'll be joined by Broncos Spencer McAvoy and Matt Tassone at Smittys restaurant from 5-7pm. The boys should be comfortable considering it's a regular breakfast hang-out spot.

- Despite the shootout loss last night the Broncos still have picked up at least a point in seven straight games.

- Do you love it or hate it? The dreaded shootout made the Broncos losers for a 2nd time this season. The shooters are 1/8 while Travis Yonkman has stopped 5/8 attempts.

- The Broncos can't seem to string together an extended winning streak. Their longest streak in the last four years is four games in a row which happened near the end of last season - March 9th to the 16th. Dean Chynoweth's career coaching longest winning streak is seven games back in the 2002-03 season. February 15th to March 3rd, 2003.


- I saw a raging debate on one of those fans message boards about the best WHL broadcaster. My vote? Regan in Kelowna. He can make a good game sound great and a bad game sound good. He does a fine job of selling the product and making it fun to listen to. After all, shouldn't the game be entertaining? That's the business we're in.


- Busy nine days ahead for me but it's just par for the course at this time of the year. Monday night meet the Broncos at Smittys tomorrow. Tuesday night it's the Broncos and Prince Albert from the I-plex. Wednesday the Broncos are in Regina. Thursday they leave to Red Deer to get comfortable before Friday's game. Friday night it's the Broncos and Rebels from the Centrium. Saturday it's the Broncos and the Edmonton Oil Kings from Rexall place. After a long drive home I may have to be in Prince Albert the next day Sunday for a 2pm "AAA" midget broadcast (depending on the health of Kenny Audette). Monday night it's Meet the Broncos from Boston Pizza then Tuesday the Broncos host the Regina Pats. Phew.........

Jon