nivek_wahs
03-20-2008, 06:59 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=5c59b1bf-877e-4eab-b1d6-d0d57ef8beeb
Balanced attack will be a handful
Tim Switzer, Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Swift Current Broncos' balancing act could rival that of any troupe of acrobats.
The Broncos have one of the most balanced scoring lineups in the entire Western Hockey League. There are eight players on the team's roster who had 19 or more goals during the regular season.
The most any other team in the league had was six. To put it in further context, the Tri-City Americans, the highest-scoring team in the league had five players with 19 or more goals.
The Regina Pats, who the Broncos will meet Friday (7 p.m., Brandt Centre) for Game 1 of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal, had two.
"With that many different goal scorers on our team, it just shows what kind of depth we have and the character of the room," said Broncos forward Levi Nelson, who tied for second on the team with 25 goals. "We complement each other real well and I guess that's why we have so many of those high goal scorers up there."
The other Broncos players to crack 19 goals were Dale Weise (29), Erik Felde (25), David Stieler (23), Zack Smith (22), Keegan Dansereau (22), Geordie Wudrick (20) and Matt Tassone (19).
All that and the Broncos still didn't have anyone in the top 25 in league scoring and only two -- Smith with 70 points and Nelson with 61 -- in the top 50. The Broncos were the eighth highest-scoring team in the league this season with 244 goals.
"It's a different situation than a lot of places," said Dansereau, who was traded to the Broncos from the Calgary Hitmen on Sept. 29. "In Calgary we had (Ryan White) and (Brodie) Dupont and they were kind of the go-to guys that would get us rolling and put the puck in the net. Here, it's everyone."
But fortunately for Broncos coaches and management, there has yet to be a complaint from players, even if certain ones could handle more minutes and more of the scoring load.
"We haven't had to deal with that at all," said head coach Dean Chynoweth. "Everyone is focused on the team concept and where we're at."
That system that worked so effectively in the regular season may have to change some in the playoffs.
"You always need someone to step up," said Chynoweth. "But it doesn't necessarily have to be one guy for the playoffs. That can come from one series to the next or one game to the next. That's what makes the playoffs so exciting.
"In the playoffs, you need your best players to be your best players. But you also need your depth to come through in the end."
As long as players do that, the Broncos could be a tough team to defend in the postseason.
"We have four solid lines that can play any position or any role in any situation," said Nelson. "We just go with the flow and whoever we're playing with, we feed off each other. That's our strength as a club."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
Balanced attack will be a handful
Tim Switzer, Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Swift Current Broncos' balancing act could rival that of any troupe of acrobats.
The Broncos have one of the most balanced scoring lineups in the entire Western Hockey League. There are eight players on the team's roster who had 19 or more goals during the regular season.
The most any other team in the league had was six. To put it in further context, the Tri-City Americans, the highest-scoring team in the league had five players with 19 or more goals.
The Regina Pats, who the Broncos will meet Friday (7 p.m., Brandt Centre) for Game 1 of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal, had two.
"With that many different goal scorers on our team, it just shows what kind of depth we have and the character of the room," said Broncos forward Levi Nelson, who tied for second on the team with 25 goals. "We complement each other real well and I guess that's why we have so many of those high goal scorers up there."
The other Broncos players to crack 19 goals were Dale Weise (29), Erik Felde (25), David Stieler (23), Zack Smith (22), Keegan Dansereau (22), Geordie Wudrick (20) and Matt Tassone (19).
All that and the Broncos still didn't have anyone in the top 25 in league scoring and only two -- Smith with 70 points and Nelson with 61 -- in the top 50. The Broncos were the eighth highest-scoring team in the league this season with 244 goals.
"It's a different situation than a lot of places," said Dansereau, who was traded to the Broncos from the Calgary Hitmen on Sept. 29. "In Calgary we had (Ryan White) and (Brodie) Dupont and they were kind of the go-to guys that would get us rolling and put the puck in the net. Here, it's everyone."
But fortunately for Broncos coaches and management, there has yet to be a complaint from players, even if certain ones could handle more minutes and more of the scoring load.
"We haven't had to deal with that at all," said head coach Dean Chynoweth. "Everyone is focused on the team concept and where we're at."
That system that worked so effectively in the regular season may have to change some in the playoffs.
"You always need someone to step up," said Chynoweth. "But it doesn't necessarily have to be one guy for the playoffs. That can come from one series to the next or one game to the next. That's what makes the playoffs so exciting.
"In the playoffs, you need your best players to be your best players. But you also need your depth to come through in the end."
As long as players do that, the Broncos could be a tough team to defend in the postseason.
"We have four solid lines that can play any position or any role in any situation," said Nelson. "We just go with the flow and whoever we're playing with, we feed off each other. That's our strength as a club."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008