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Scout
10-26-2007, 03:22 PM
Keen's Korner

Friday, October 26, 2007
Gameday
Gameday in Red Deer as the team takes in some downtime before the 3pm pre-game meal at East Side Marios. It's a 7:30pm Broncos/Rebels face-off from the Centrium.

A lot has transpired since my last post. Here's a quick recap:

- Levi Nelson is the lone Bronco named to Team WHL for the Canada/Russia ADT Challenge series which will see games in Medicine Hat and Kootenay at the end of November. The game is more than a Canada/Russia clash, it's also an audition for these players in their attempt to get an invite to the World Junior selection camp. He is set to make his return to the line-up tonight after sitting out the last week with a leg injury.

Wouldn't it be good to have one of these games at the I-plex? It's coming. Apparently it was offered by the WHL this year but knowing the renovations would not be ready, the team had to decline. Hopefully the offer is still on the table for next season.

- Broncos 1st round bantam pick from this summer Christian Magnus will make his Broncos debut tonight in Red Deer. The 15 year-old out of Saskatoon had an impressive training camp. He's playing this season for the Saskatoon Blazers of the Sask. "AAA" midget league. I'm eager to see him play for a glimpse into the future.

- The Broncos have had a recent run of injuries at the forward spot. Not sure who is in and who is out yet. Some of the players could be game-time decisions. You'll have to catch tonight's pre-game show to get the latest. It starts at 7pm.

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I was told the Bronco lines will look a little different tonight. They are breaking up the Dansereau-Smith-Felde line for the time being as they look for a little more scoring balance. Some of the younger players like Cody Eakin and Brad Hoban may take on a more prominent role with their recent performance.

The Rebels play the first of three games this weekend. They also have a home and home with Lethbridge before all is said and done. They also get 20 year-old J.D. Watt back tonight after serving his six game suspension for his high hit on Saskatoon's Teigan Zahn.

The Broncos didn't have a lot of success in Red Deer last season dropping both games and being shutout in one of them. They will look to put the brakes on this mini three-game slide. The Rebels haven't played their best on home ice. With limited offense in their barn they are 1-5 so far. Their only home ice win coming against the Edmonton Oil Kings in a shootout.

We should see a little bit of support for the Broncos tonight in Red Deer. It will no doubt be cut in half with the departure of Paul Postma to the Calgary Hitmen. The Postma clan routinely filled a section when the Broncos were in town, and they were loud. With Derek Claffey a Red Deer native and several Calgary players there should still be a lot of Bronco colored jerseys in the stands of the Centrium. I have not heard of any fans making the weekend trip from Swifty.

The Riders are in action tonight too... just up the road in Edmonton. The Broncos head North following tonight's game in preparation for tomorrow night's game against the Oil Kings.

Have a great weekend,
Jon

Scout
10-26-2007, 05:17 PM
Game 15 vs. Red Deer
TONIGHT’S GAME: This will be the second match up between the Broncos and Rebels this season… The Broncos defeated the Rebels 4-3 in overtime back on October 13th at the Credit Union i-plex.

Geordie Wudrick scored the overtime winner, while Zack Smith, Erik Felde and David Stieler allrecorded singles for the Broncos…Ian Curtis picked up the win stopping 17 of 20 shots, while Dustin Butler suffered the loss turning aside 26 of 30 shots.

LAST GAME: The Broncos were defeated by the Regina Pats 5-2 on Wednesday night…With the loss the Broncos losing skid moves to 3 games, the longest of the season…Regina opened the scoring with two first period goals from Garrett Mitchell and Colten Teubert just 44 seconds apart…Michael MacAngus added a pair of 3rd period goals within 39 seconds of each other to put the Pats up 4-0…The Broncos finally beat Pat’s netminder Linden Rowat late in the final frame with a power play goal from Keegan Dansereau, his 7th of the season…Cody Eakin then made it 4-2, with 1:33 left in regulation but WHL leading goal scorer Jordan Eberle sealed the Pats win with his 14th goal of the season into an empty net in the final minute of play…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…Next action for the Club is Saturday night when the Broncos travel to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings for the third time this season.

NUMBERS: Michael Wilson continues to lead the Broncos and all WHL defensemen in the points department with 18 points (1 goal, 17 assists)…Wilson is currently tied with Tyler Ennis of the Medicine Hat Tigers for 8th place amongst WHL scorers… Erik Felde has 8 goals and 9 assists and is tied for 9th overall in the league point race … Keegan Dansereau has 15 points in 11 games (7 goals, 8 assists)…Captain Zack Smith has recorded points in 7 of his past 8 games, he now has 5 goals and 9 assists this season…Travis Yonkman is currently rated 11th amongst WHL goaltenders with a 2.47 goals against average and a 0.907 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.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Broncos power play is currently operating at 19.4% and is ranked 7th in the WHL…The team has scored 19 power play goals on 98 attempts…Dale Weise and Keegan Dansereau both have 4 power play goals, tied for the team lead while Michael Wilson leads the Broncos with 7 power play assists…On the penalty kill, the Broncos are currently ranked 17th in the WHL with an 79.5% 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.