Game 34 @ Kelowna

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FRIDAY'S GAME: The Swift Current Broncos play the Kelowna Rockets for the only time this season.

Friday’s game is the 3rd of 7 straight on the road for the Broncos...The Broncos are coming off a wild 7-6 win in Prince George over the Cougars Wednesday night...The Broncos were led by a career best night for Keegan Dansereau, as the 20 year-old had a 4 goal and 5 point performance...It was a season high for the Broncos...Justin Dowling (1 goal 2 assists) and Spencer McAvoy (3 assists) each had 3 point nights for Swift Current who were a deadly 4 for 5 on the power-play...Matt Tassone and Jan Dalecky each had a goal in the win...Travis Yonkman picked up his 8th win of the season as the Broncos were outshot 42-30.

NUMBERS: Eric Doyle and Keegan Dansereau lead the Broncos with 31 points each...Doyle is tied for second in scoring for WHL defenseman...Doyle leads the Broncos with a plus 19 rating… Keegan Dansereau leads the team with 19 goals which ranks him 8th in the WHL...Dansereau has 8 goals and 12 points in his last 7 games, he also leads the team with 8 multi-point games…Matt Tassone has a 9 game point streak...He has 13 points, including 9 goals in those games... Tassone has goals in 7 of his last 8 games…Justin Dowling has points in 4 straight games and goals in 3 straight games…Mark Guggenberger is 3rd in the WHL in save percentage with .915 and 10th in the league in Goals Against Average with a 2.74…The Broncos are 11-1 when leading after two periods…The Broncos have not been shut-out in a league best 112 games…Spencer McAvoy has 6 assists in his last 3 games and points in 8 of his last 10 games...Keegan Dansereau leads the team with 18 points on the road…Taylor Vause leads all rookies for Swift Current with 12 points on the season.

ON THE ROAD: The Broncos are 7-8 on the road and have won 2 of their last 3 away from the Credit Union i-plex...The Broncos have given up 34 goals in their last 6 road games (5.67 avg).

VS. BC DIVISION: The Broncos are 1-0 vs. the BC Division with the win in Prince George Wednesday.

REGULAR SEASON VS. Kelowna: Tonight is the lone meeting this season between the Broncos and Rockets...The Broncos defeated Kelowna in their only meeting last season but the Broncos are 2-6 against the Rockets over the last 5 years including a 1-2 record in Kelowna.

MILESTONES: Head Coach Dean Chynoweth is 2 wins shy of 250 for his career, he is 5th among active coaches for all-time wins…Eric Doyle is 10 assists shy of 100 for his career…Keegan Dansereau is 9 points shy of 200 for his career…Justin Dowling equaled his point total from all of last year with his 27th point Wednesday night…Matt Ius is 2 games shy of 100 for his career.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Broncos power-play is 32 for 159, 20.1% (8th) and the penalty kill is 82.1%, giving up 29 goals on 162 tries (10th). The Broncos have given up 6 short-handed goals... Matt Tassone has scored the Broncos lone short-handed goal.

UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP: Broncos forward Christian Magnus will represent Team West and Broncos assistant coach Tim Kehler will be the Head Coach for Team Pacific at the Under-17 Championships in Alberni Valley BC at the end of the month.

ROSTER: The Broncos roster currently consists of 25 players...The team has 4 – 20 year old players, 6 – 19 year old players, 6 – 18 year old players, 7 – 17 year old players, and 2 – 16 year old players…There are 5 BC born players on the Broncos roster: Joel Rogers (Abbotsford), Matt Ius (Pitt Meadows), Geordie Wudrick (Abbotsford), Brad Hoban (Victoria) and Grant Toulmin (Langley)…Derek Claffey will be back in the line-up after serving a 1 game suspension for boarding.

INJURIES: Cody Eakin (ankle), Matt Ius (Hip) and Jesse Dudas (knee) are all out of the lineup.

UPCOMING GAMES: The Broncos head to Kamloops on Saturday followed by 2 games in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver next Tuesday and Chilliwack next Wednesday.

DRAFTED BRONCOS: Ryan Molle (New Jersey ‘07)…Matt Tassone (Dallas ’08)...Geordie Wudrick (LA ’08).


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Keen's Korner

Friday, December 12, 2008

The Broncos went through a vigorous game-day skate earlier today as they prepare for tonight's game against the Rockets.


The Broncos have travelled some 2100 kms on the bus so far on the trip and have only played two games.



It's snowy, cloudy day here in Canada's playground. Snow that was once melting when it hit the ground is now collecting with a layer of white.




The Broncos haven't allowed a goal by the Rockets in nearly three years. In fact, as Regan Bartel in his blog pointed out, the last goal scored by a Rocket against the Broncos was way back in December of 2005 when Clayton Bauer scored an empty-netter in the final minutes.



Since then, both Mark Guggenberger and Travis Yonkman have posted shutouts against the Rockets in back-to-back years. In fact, Yonks and I were laughing about his last start here. 0-0 through regulation and overtime as he went head-to-head with his former midget teammate Kris Westblom.






Hopefully the newly named "DDT" line (old wrestling fans can relate to this one) can continue at the pace set in Prince George Wednesday night. The Dansereau /Dowling/Tassone line combined for 11 points against the Cougars in a wild one.






Not sure on Cody Eakin. He may be a game-time decision. The Rockets will be without Kyle St. Denis (wrist), Tyler Myers (World Juniors) and leading scorer Jaime Benn (World Juniors).






Don't be surprised if these teams take an extra look at each other with the trade deadline about a month away. There's always something that seems to happen between these two teams. Both GM's have a good relationship with each other and there was some early interest from the Rockets regarding goaltender Travis Yonkman. Bruce Hamilton was quite forthcoming in our pre-game interview Wednesday night when he said they still might have to shore up their goaltending situation if Kris Lazaruk can't provide what they're looking for down the stretch. He said "we will have to do something" in regards to their goaltending.






The Rockets will also likely bring in a veteran defenseman which the Broncos have plenty. Especially with Jesse Dudas set to return after the Christmas break.




Food for thought.


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