Broncos 7 @ Hitmen 9

[Big Ern]

The score about says it for an ulcer-growing affair in Calgary tonight....a game the Broncos had numerous chances to win but fell short by an amazing score of 9-7.

-the two best defensive teams in the Eastern Conference?? Maybe that statement should be rephrased. Or better yet, completely reconstructed. Tonight it looked more like two Moose Jaw Warrior teams from the Boyd/Brauer era. WIDE OPEN.

-Bronco goaltender Travis Yonkman stood on his head for the opening five minutes and displayed the odd brilliant save throughout the game. The Broncos have gotten some big games from Yonks in that barn, but tonight was just a really bad deal at both ends. As for the Calgary Hitmen, it almost seemed like they had an empty net at times. The Broncos scorched Martin Jones only to have Calgary yank him and put their backup in.....who wasn't much better.

-the frustrating part was the penalties Swift Current took at inopportune times in the hockey game. Like when they scored a go-ahead goal early in the third and Calgary looked deflated. The Broncos went on to take the next two penalties...one deep in the offensive zone...alllowing the Hitmen to score the tying goal and eventually take the lead for good. The other aspect was Grant Toulmin's fight. Up 2-0 early, Toulmin had a bout with Calgary's Ian Schultz. Before the fight the Hitmen looked wounded after allowing a quick two goals against. After the fight, they grabbed the momentum and promptly tied the game. Does this sound similar to an occurence in the recent 6-5 loss in Saskatoon? Fighting has it's time and place.

-the great thing about tonight was the offense. The Broncos put seven goals on the board....and they did it with five regulars missing from the game. Mike Brown, Matt Tassone, Taylor Vause and Geordie Wudrick were phenominal offensively.

-as for the defense...our guys didn't necessarily play bad...I would say Calgary can play any game teams want to play. And tonight was that type of situation. The game got too wide open and unfortunately the Broncos' defense got caught in the middle of it. I think it's just a bad dream that they would love to wake up from tomorrow night in Red Deer. I'm sure it's possible.

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!


NOTES:

-thankyou to Mr. Dean Vause, who met me at the door with a game ticket in hand for this game. Dean also rounded up over 300 fans to come cheer on the Broncos tonight. Thanks a million Mr. Vause....It is much appreciated.

- I am spending the night in Calgary with the trip to Red Deer commencing tomorrow morning. The drive down went by really quickly, and except for the game, Alberta has been fun so far.

-Keegan Dansereau was in warm-up but did not dress for the team tonight.

I'm out.

[ointhecreek]

-as for the defense...our guys didn't necessarily play bad...I would say Calgary can play any game teams want to play. And tonight was that type of situation.

Are you kidding me? They were pretty much invisible. Doyle was out chasing pucks at the blue line while 3 Hitmen were crashing the net. Once again, nobody protecting Yonks in front of the net. Our D is starting to lose games for us. vc124

[Scout]

Keen's Korner

Friday, November 28, 2008
Calgary 9 Broncos 7
Where to start?

I'm thinking a lot of Bronco fans caught tonight's game on Shaw TV so there is video evidence this game actually played out the way it did. A game that will go down as one of the wildest contests I've seen over the years as the Broncos play-by-play broadcaster.

The Broncos scored a season high seven goals. Problem is, they gave up a season high nine.

Bottom line, if you score seven times against the #3 ranked team in the nation you better win. It didn't happen as the Broncos surrendered the lead on four separate occasions to lose their 4th straight game away from home ice.

When was the last time the Broncos gave up nine goals? It might take me awhile to track that down. When was the last time Calgary gave up seven goals on home ice?

Here's some "believe it or not" post-game notes.

- Hitmen goaltenders went 31 minutes without making a save. Goaltenders Martin Jones, and Michael Snider gave up four goals on four consecutive shots spanning from late in the first period to early in the third. The Broncos scored on all three 2nd period shots.

- The Hitmen went 4 for 5 on the powerplay. Even the PP they didn't score on was in effect a PP goal as the penalized Bronco Justin Dowling wasn't back into the play yet as he came out of the box.

- The night was so strange even Broncos D Derek Claffey scored his first goal in two years. A powerplay marker on a big blast from the left point.

- The Broncos were the last team to score a shorthanded goal in the WHL. It came tonight courtesy a beautiful behind the goal line tuck by Matt Tassone.

- The Broncos and Hitmen had given up the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference heading into tonight's game.

- The Broncos have scored a combined 12 goals in their last two road games but haven't won.

- Broncos forward Taylor Vause had 375 tickets tonight for friends and family. Yes 375, He gave the contingent something to cheer about with a 2nd period breakaway goal.

- The Broncos finished the night with seven goals on 14 shots. Calgary scored eight times on 33 shots before their empty netter in the final minute. Who needs save percentage anyways....

- The Broncos and Calgary have played some real doozeys in Calgary over the years. There have been some outright wild and wacky ones. This one is probably at the top.

The "Pigeon Power" comeback win a couple years ago would give it a good run for it's money though.

- Raging Ramada. Both the Broncos and Moose Jaw Warriors suffered losses tonight. Both are sharing the same Red Deer hotel this weekend.

- Former Bronco Kyle Bortis came up to me tonight and offered a "Happy Birthday" about 90 minutes prior to face-off. He then collected a four point night and might have been the Hitmen's best player tonight. Thanks Borty.

- Hitmen Head Coach Dave Lowry was a pre-game show guest. His son Adam is a Bronco bantam pick from this past summer.

"He wears the t-shirt and hat around the house all the time," Lowry said. " I keep threatening him I'm going to take the shirt and cut-out the crest," he added with a laugh.

He also congratulated me on my "Eric Doyle to the ADT Challenge campaign". I don't know if congratulations are in order. The plan was to get him to play in front of our fans, not the fans in Prince Albert.

That's enough blogging under a veil of darkness on the bus as we head North to Red Deer. More tomorrow....

Jon

www.jonkeen.blogspot.com

Scout

[CrazyGeorge]

Our DEFENSE ARE NOT CLEARNING THE FRONT OF THE NET. Plane and simple. I was listening to the game on the Eagle and got a vibe from Keen that the Broncos were simply not taking care of the the front of the net, that the Hitmen were crashing the net and we did nothing about it. Now we can all start pointing our fingers and who we think is at all fault but when push comes to shove the players need to be more accountable on the defensive side of the puck and take care of business in front of Yonks and Guggs.

[minirep]

Ern you wouldn't lose momentum in a hockey game if you had someone who could actually WIN a fight. Still think we need a tough guy to protect our little players, hold the opposing team responsible so they just can't do what ever they want on the ice and maybe it's us who gets that spark you talk about when our player beats on a guy. I remember when we used to get that spark when we had guys like Sommerfeld, Orr, Spencer, Trojo, Tidball, and Smitty. In my opinion we would not have as many injuries if we had a TUFF guy. Some say it's not in the game anymore so then why is fighting up so much in the NHL? clrkthj

[hitmanfan]

Hopefully next time the two teams meet they decide to use some goalies. That is a crazy score.