Scout
12-02-2007, 07:25 AM
SOUTHWEST BOOSTER SPORTS
The Southwest Booster
The Swift Current Broncos lost their fifth game in six outings 4-2 to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night at the Credit Union iplex.
The slumping Broncos, playing without five regulars due to injury, fell behind 2-0 in the first period and failed in their comeback bid.
The Broncos played without injured defensemen Ryan Molle and Spencer McAvoy as well as forwards Cody Eakin, Matt Tassone, and Mike Brown. 15-year-old defenseman Taylor Ernst skated a few shifts at forward to spell some of the regulars.
The Wheat Kings took over sole possession of second place in the East Division with
goals from Matt Lowry, Daniel Bartek, Brayden Schenn, and Tyler Dittmer with his team leading 21st of the season.
Swift Current was led by a two-goal performance from Levi Nelson, the first of which prompted hundreds of teddy bears to be thrown onto the ice as part of their annual Teddy Bear Toss promotion that will see the bears donated to the Salvation Army.
Last year Zack Smith scored 8:54 into the contest to begin the Teddy bear Toss in a 3-2 win over the Regina Pats on Dec. 3rd.
The red-hot Nelson has now tallied 11 points in his past seven games and has 13 goals and 17 assists in 26 games this season.
Brandon netminder Joe Caligiuri collected his 15th win of the season with a 24-save performance. Swift Current goaltender Travis Yonkman took the loss after yielding four goals on 25 shots.
Broncos forward Dale Weise explained the mood of the team following another loss.
“It is frustrating; yesterday we didn’t deserve to win. We have to realize that we have got to come out with a little bit better starts. Today I am sure Yonks would like to have a few of the goals back but you can’t blame him. I thought he made some big saves to keep us in it. It’s frustrating right now, I thought we played well enough to win, but we didn’t get the end result so I guess it is back to the drawing board for Tuesday.”
Weise made his biggest contribution with a bone-jarring hit on Scott Glennie that sent him to the dressing room.
“I seen the defense ring the puck around and I was just trying to get in on the forecheck, I was the high man. I seen him looking back and kind of had the one-hander going so I knew it was lights out from there.”
The hit prompted a scrap with 16-year-old Brayden Schenn.
“Well normally I wouldn’t have problem with it but he was a 16-year-old and I really don’t like fighting 16 and 17-year-old kids. He challenged me and threw his gloves off and I didn’t really have a choice. I don’t mind fighting but most of the time I like fighting older guys. You gotta do what you gotta do.”
Overage defenseman R.J. LaRochelle explained that frustration is setting in for the Broncos.
“Yeah there is a little bit, you can tell that it is starting to creep in there. Stuff isn’t going our way but we are in control of that. We are not working as hard as we should and we are not doing all the little things that we need to do to win.”
LaRochelle believes that the slumping Broncos can overcome their injury woes.
“I think we just need to keep a positive attitude. We have a lot of guys that can play on the back end and up front. So I think that we are not too worried about it, we just need to keep going.”
The win improves Brandon’s record to 18-9-0-1, two points ahead of Swift Current who falls to 15-10-0-5.
Tuesday the Broncos will host the Red Deer Rebels at the iplex in their final home game before heading west for six games against Kootenay and the five U.S. Division teams.
The Southwest Booster
The Swift Current Broncos lost their fifth game in six outings 4-2 to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night at the Credit Union iplex.
The slumping Broncos, playing without five regulars due to injury, fell behind 2-0 in the first period and failed in their comeback bid.
The Broncos played without injured defensemen Ryan Molle and Spencer McAvoy as well as forwards Cody Eakin, Matt Tassone, and Mike Brown. 15-year-old defenseman Taylor Ernst skated a few shifts at forward to spell some of the regulars.
The Wheat Kings took over sole possession of second place in the East Division with
goals from Matt Lowry, Daniel Bartek, Brayden Schenn, and Tyler Dittmer with his team leading 21st of the season.
Swift Current was led by a two-goal performance from Levi Nelson, the first of which prompted hundreds of teddy bears to be thrown onto the ice as part of their annual Teddy Bear Toss promotion that will see the bears donated to the Salvation Army.
Last year Zack Smith scored 8:54 into the contest to begin the Teddy bear Toss in a 3-2 win over the Regina Pats on Dec. 3rd.
The red-hot Nelson has now tallied 11 points in his past seven games and has 13 goals and 17 assists in 26 games this season.
Brandon netminder Joe Caligiuri collected his 15th win of the season with a 24-save performance. Swift Current goaltender Travis Yonkman took the loss after yielding four goals on 25 shots.
Broncos forward Dale Weise explained the mood of the team following another loss.
“It is frustrating; yesterday we didn’t deserve to win. We have to realize that we have got to come out with a little bit better starts. Today I am sure Yonks would like to have a few of the goals back but you can’t blame him. I thought he made some big saves to keep us in it. It’s frustrating right now, I thought we played well enough to win, but we didn’t get the end result so I guess it is back to the drawing board for Tuesday.”
Weise made his biggest contribution with a bone-jarring hit on Scott Glennie that sent him to the dressing room.
“I seen the defense ring the puck around and I was just trying to get in on the forecheck, I was the high man. I seen him looking back and kind of had the one-hander going so I knew it was lights out from there.”
The hit prompted a scrap with 16-year-old Brayden Schenn.
“Well normally I wouldn’t have problem with it but he was a 16-year-old and I really don’t like fighting 16 and 17-year-old kids. He challenged me and threw his gloves off and I didn’t really have a choice. I don’t mind fighting but most of the time I like fighting older guys. You gotta do what you gotta do.”
Overage defenseman R.J. LaRochelle explained that frustration is setting in for the Broncos.
“Yeah there is a little bit, you can tell that it is starting to creep in there. Stuff isn’t going our way but we are in control of that. We are not working as hard as we should and we are not doing all the little things that we need to do to win.”
LaRochelle believes that the slumping Broncos can overcome their injury woes.
“I think we just need to keep a positive attitude. We have a lot of guys that can play on the back end and up front. So I think that we are not too worried about it, we just need to keep going.”
The win improves Brandon’s record to 18-9-0-1, two points ahead of Swift Current who falls to 15-10-0-5.
Tuesday the Broncos will host the Red Deer Rebels at the iplex in their final home game before heading west for six games against Kootenay and the five U.S. Division teams.