Game 14 @ Regina

[Scout]

Game 14 vs. Regina
TONIGHT’S GAME: This will be the first of 6 meeting between the Broncos and the Pats this season…Last season the Pats won 6 of the 8 meetings between the two team along with the first round playoff series (4-2).

The Broncos won the lone pre-season game 5-0 back on September 14th at the West Central Events Centre in Kindersley…Geordie Wudrick recorded two goals while Jan Dalecky, David Stieler and Grant Toulmin all picked up singles…Travis Yonkman picked up the win stopping all 19 shots, while Jeff Bosch and Damien Ketio combined for 30 saves in regulation.

LAST GAME: The Broncos fell to the Prince Albert Raiders for the second time this season last night at the Credit Union i-plex…Trailing 2-0 heading into the third period the Broncos fought their way back into the game with goals for defensemen Michael Wilson and Eric Doyle 4:12 apart to tie the game 2-2…The Raiders responded right back with a power play goal by Max Brandl and secured the win with Dustin Butler’s goal to make it 4-2 with 2:45 left in regulation…The loss snapped the Broncos 7 game point streak and also ended the Raiders 6 game losing skid…The Broncos had chances but were 0 for 5 on the power play while the Raiders were 2 for 5...Despite the loss the Broncos outshot the raiders by a wide margin of 39-23...Broncos netminder Travis Yonkman stopped 19 of 23 shots in the loss to lower his record to 6-3-0-2...The Broncos (8-3-0-2) trail the 1st place Regina Pats by 2 points in the East Division, with 1 games in hand…Next action for the Club is Friday night when the Broncos travel to Red Deer to take on the Rebels for the second time this season.

NUMBERS: Michael Wilson (1-16) and Erik Felde (8-9) lead the Broncos with 17 points apiece, and are tied for 9th in the overall league point race…Wilson leads all WHL defensemen in the points department and also leads the team and the League in +/- rating with +12… Keegan Dansereau saw his 6 game point streak snapped last night against the Raiders…he has 14 points in 10 games (6 goals, 8 assists)…Captain Zack Smith’s 6 game point streak also came to an end in last night’s contest…Zack Smith (5-8) and Eric Doyle (3-10) both have 13 points in 13 games… Travis Yonkman is currently rated 8th amongst WHL goaltenders with a 2.29 goals against average and a 0.915 save percentage to start the season…The Broncos currently have 14 players that are sitting with a positive +/- rating…Only 4 Broncos (Brad Hoban, Ryan Molle, Derek Claffey, and Joel Rogers) have yet to score this season, while Rogers, the 16 year old Abbotsford product, is the only Broncos player still looking for his first point of the year…The Broncos are averaging 29 shots for per game…The team is scoring 3.9 goals per game while they are allowing 2.8 per game.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Broncos power play is currently operating at 19.8% and is ranked 74th in the WHL…The team has scored 18 power play goals on 91 attempts…Dale Weise leads the Broncos with 4 power play goals while Michael Wilson and Erik Felde both have 6 power play assists, tied for the team lead…On the penalty kill, the Broncos are currently ranked 16th in the WHL with an 79.4% efficiency rating.

ROSTER: The Broncos roster currently consists of 22 players (2 goaltenders, 7 defensemen, 13 forwards)…The team has 3 – 20 year old players, 7 – 19 year old players, 4 – 18 year old players, 5 – 17 year old players, and 3 – 16 year old players…By location, the Broncos have 4 Saskatchewan born players, 8 Alberta born players, 5 British Columbia born players, 2 Manitoba born players, 2 players from the Czech Republic, and 1 American player…The Broncos average age is 18 while their average height is 6’0.5” and weight 186.9 lbs.

[Big Ern]

WHEEEWWW...What a long drive home from Queen City! I made great time getting there. I left McDonald Crescent in Swifty at 5:03 PM, and parked at Regina's Brandt Centre at 6:58 PM. That's pretty impressive..I've never done it in that time. On the way home, I kept the speedometre below 120 KPH. It's dumb to take that speeding ticket risk if you don't have to. ;) HAHA.

I witnessed the 5-2 loss in Regina tonight. I saw our team come out and play pretty well......but fail to capitalize on chances. I heard four posts ring behind Linden Rowatt, and unfortunately, I only saw two red lights come on. The guys had good intentions, but it was just one of those nights. Codey Eakin had a tremendous game, and finally got rewarded with a goal. The rookie line, again, played fantastic. The physical aspect of the game was definitely lacking. We need to be physical to win hockey games. Perhaps the reason for tonight's set-back was fatigue. But perhaps the veteran leaders on the team have to step up and grab the bull by the horns. The result would no doubt have been different with Weise and Nelson in the action, but injuries are inevitable. The team needs to battle through, and in my opinion, has the tools to do so. I expect to see a great effort in Red Deer this Friday.

That's the story for the Broncos tonight.

Now..for the Pats....

The Pats scored goals in bunches. From the first goal by Mitchell, it took less than a minute to score the next one. From the third goal scored by MacAngus, it only took 39 seconds for the next one to light the lamp. Goals that close together are momentum killers. The Pats are lucky to have Linden Rowatt in goal. He kept them in it a few times, stopping break-away chances, stopping guys point blank, and playing a solid game between the pipes. The pipes helped the Pats too. As mentioned before, goal posts rang out four times tonight. Having said all this, the Pats are a great team. They did a good job throughout the game. There was a lapse late in the third, when Swift Current scored twice and then almost made it a one-goal game a few seconds later, but for the most part the Pats played well. Things will really unfold when they go out on their BC road trip about a week from now. They are great at home. We'll see how they fare on the road.

Keep cheering Bronco fans. This is a great team. Hockey has it's highs and lows. I have no doubt that the leaders will step up, and confidence will be restored.

Interesting NOTE:

I was fortunate enough to chat with former Bronco, Todd Holt at tonight's game in Regina. He thought the four posts the Broncos hit were the difference in the game. Todd is an awesome guy. It's great to have met and chatted with someone like him, who is a pillar in this franchise's history.

I'm looking forward to a great weekend in Alberta. (Lots and LOTS of driving, but still a great weekend.) Going to Red Deer is always a highlight for me. If I get all the odds and ends together until then, hopefully I'll get on the road by Friday morning at 6:00 AM. Should be fun. Is anyone else making the trip?

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!

[Broncs in RD]

Ern I am hoping to be at the game in Red Deer. Like Ern said there are highs and lows and no one thought we were going to be 67-3-2 The boys will find a way, and with two of our top line guys out makes a big difference. The rookies are stepping it up, but we need a couple of the 2nd and 3rd year guys to step it up.
That being said look for a great weekend from the Broncs.

[Scout]

Keen's Korner

Thursday, October 25, 2007
Pats Take Round One
Two goals 44 seconds a part in the first, and then two more 39 seconds a part in the 3rd period proved to be the difference as Regina beat the Broncos 5-2 in the first of six head-to-head contests.

It was a good game, and I thought Linden Rowat was spectacular in the Pats' goal. He made some key saves to stymie an attempted 2nd period rally in which the Broncos threw some quality chances his way and came up empty handed.

The Broncos kept coming in the third despite a deficit which grew from two to four goals in a matter of 39 seconds.

Not like he needed it, but Linden Rowat received some help from his posts as the Broncos rang iron at least four times in the third period. Then Keegan Dansereau was robbed point blank on a cross-ice pass one-timer on a 5-on-3 powerplay.

I thought the game lacked physical play considering the teams were involved in a tough six-game playoff battle just months ago. Expect that side of the game to develop as the season series continues.

Jordan Eberle is the real deal. The Pats 17 year-old had a quiet three points including the empty-netter in the final minute to make it 5-2. He has more to give, and that's a bit scary.

Overall the Pats are a similar team to last year. I like their top four d-men in Tuebert, Pyett, Ross and Valach. Their goaltending is top notch with Rowat. I think they've lost a little depth on offense over last year with the departures of Garrett Festerling, Kyle Ross, and Kaspars Saulities. They will look for some of the 2nd and 3rd year players to fill that void.

16 year-old Broncos rookie Cody Eakin was the best Bronco...again. That's good and bad. It shows the veterans didn't have a large impact in the game but also shows that Eakin will develop into a premier player in the WHL. He did it all last night and was the 2nd star on our broadcast.

The whirlwind tour doesn't slow down. The team leaves this afternoon for Red Deer. They play the Rebels tomorrow night then head North to Edmonton to play the Oil Kings for a third time in three weeks Saturday.

The Broncos are expected to have Levi Nelson back in the line-up this weekend. Just in time as rookie Mike Brown went down with an upper-body injury in last night's contest. The return of Dale Wiese will be questionable as he recovers from a broken thumb. An x-ray today may shed more light on his situation.

Broncos/Rebels tomorrow night... we're on the air at 7pm with the pre-game show, play-by-play at 7:30.

Jon

[CrazyGeorge]

We just didn't get the breaks. 4 posts and 2 wonderful saves (2 for sure, maybe more) by Rowat. 5-2 scored may indicate that we were out of it but it was closer than people think. Weise and Nelso not being there isn't an excuse either. If we scored on those posts, it's a whole new game. Can't wait till those two are back. Cody Eakin was great yet again.

[Scout]

Last updated at 9:25 AM on 25/10/07

Broncos winless in three games after loss to Pats
SOUTHWEST BOOSTER SPORTS
The Southwest Booster


The Swift Current Broncos had their winless streak stretched to three games with a 5-2 loss to the host Regina Pats on Wednesday night at the Brandt Centre.

The Past scored four unanswered goals before Keegan Dansereau beat Linden Rowat on the powerplay late in the third period for his seventh goal of the season.

Broncos 16-year-old forward Cody Eakin scored his third goal of the season 1:38 later but Western Hockey League leading goal scorer Jordan Eberle sealed the win with his 14th goal of the season into an empty net.

Michael McAngus scored twice for the Pats, while Garret Mitchell and Colton Teubert each scored their first goals of the season.

Travis Yonkman took the loss in net stopping 26 of the 29 shots he faced to lower his record to 6-4-0-2.

Rowat stopped 24 of 26 shots to improve his record to 9-3-0-0.

Friday night the 8-4-0-2 Broncos will be Red Deer to face the Rebels.