Big Ern
12-30-2008, 10:47 PM
A valiant third period effort was not enough as the Swift Current Broncos fell short to the Prince Albert Raiders Tuesday night by a score of 4-2.
-one veteran Swift Current defenceman had a rather forgettable game tonight. He may have cost the Broncos a point and maybe two, with his adventurous play out there.
-Travis Yonkman kept his team in it....especially in the second period. He made some impossible saves on the Raiders, covering for the sluggish defence on front of him in the opening 40 minutes.
-the Broncos were not strong when entering the zone in the first two periods. They were stripped of the puck repeatedly in the neutral zone, and fanned on a huge amount of shots in the slot.
-the puck did it's share of bouncing in this one. A lot of times it would not sit down for either team. The stands in the Art Hauser Centre IMO are kept way too warm. It's nice to keep the fans warm, but at around 20 degrees celcius, it has to be taking a negative effect on ice conditions.
-this was the third game in four nights, plus a 4 1/2 hour road trip to PA earlier today. Fatigue was evident, and may well have resulted in sloppy play.
-the DDT line contributed both goals in a much better last 20 minutes for the visitors. Matt Tassone had the first goal with a powerplay tip-in of the shot by Eric Doyle. Justin Dowling found a small hole between the pads of Stanford to even things up less than five minutes later. The secondary scoring was non-existent, despite a good third period effort.
-to his credit, Steven Stanford kept the Broncos at bay. He was stellar in the first few minutes of the game as the Broncos had Prince Albert hemmed in the favourable zone. He was solid all game long.
-kudos to the first star tonight, Prince Albert's own, Ryan McDonald. He had all four goals for the homeside. Obviously McDonald is an extreme threat when in possession of the puck down low and capitalized tonight on a couple of defensive meltdowns from the Broncos.
For the Broncos, January will certainly not get any easier. They host Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Brandon starting next weekend. After the brief three game homestand, there will be a lot of travel and some tough scheduling situations for the team to endure. A measure of success in the three home games would make things look really good.
LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!
NOTES:
-this is coming to you from somewhere between PA and Saskatoon on the way back. Thanks to my passenger tonight, Ray, who agreed to handle the drive back as far as Saskatoon where I will take over behind the wheel again. Thankfully and unlike last time I was in PA, the roads have been great so far. (Knock on wood.)
-it's a loooong and rather boring trek up here, but any game is worth it as far as I'm concerned.
-attendance in PA was 2022 tonight...that's up from their average this year, which apparently is considerably lower!
-GPS technology tells me that we're precisely 36 KM from Saskatoon.
-A quick checkstop by the RCMP a while back proved that my vehicle is red. They always stop red vehicles rather than any other colour. lol Nothing doing...just a checkstop and a "Have a good night."
Happy New Year! :)
-one veteran Swift Current defenceman had a rather forgettable game tonight. He may have cost the Broncos a point and maybe two, with his adventurous play out there.
-Travis Yonkman kept his team in it....especially in the second period. He made some impossible saves on the Raiders, covering for the sluggish defence on front of him in the opening 40 minutes.
-the Broncos were not strong when entering the zone in the first two periods. They were stripped of the puck repeatedly in the neutral zone, and fanned on a huge amount of shots in the slot.
-the puck did it's share of bouncing in this one. A lot of times it would not sit down for either team. The stands in the Art Hauser Centre IMO are kept way too warm. It's nice to keep the fans warm, but at around 20 degrees celcius, it has to be taking a negative effect on ice conditions.
-this was the third game in four nights, plus a 4 1/2 hour road trip to PA earlier today. Fatigue was evident, and may well have resulted in sloppy play.
-the DDT line contributed both goals in a much better last 20 minutes for the visitors. Matt Tassone had the first goal with a powerplay tip-in of the shot by Eric Doyle. Justin Dowling found a small hole between the pads of Stanford to even things up less than five minutes later. The secondary scoring was non-existent, despite a good third period effort.
-to his credit, Steven Stanford kept the Broncos at bay. He was stellar in the first few minutes of the game as the Broncos had Prince Albert hemmed in the favourable zone. He was solid all game long.
-kudos to the first star tonight, Prince Albert's own, Ryan McDonald. He had all four goals for the homeside. Obviously McDonald is an extreme threat when in possession of the puck down low and capitalized tonight on a couple of defensive meltdowns from the Broncos.
For the Broncos, January will certainly not get any easier. They host Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Brandon starting next weekend. After the brief three game homestand, there will be a lot of travel and some tough scheduling situations for the team to endure. A measure of success in the three home games would make things look really good.
LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!
NOTES:
-this is coming to you from somewhere between PA and Saskatoon on the way back. Thanks to my passenger tonight, Ray, who agreed to handle the drive back as far as Saskatoon where I will take over behind the wheel again. Thankfully and unlike last time I was in PA, the roads have been great so far. (Knock on wood.)
-it's a loooong and rather boring trek up here, but any game is worth it as far as I'm concerned.
-attendance in PA was 2022 tonight...that's up from their average this year, which apparently is considerably lower!
-GPS technology tells me that we're precisely 36 KM from Saskatoon.
-A quick checkstop by the RCMP a while back proved that my vehicle is red. They always stop red vehicles rather than any other colour. lol Nothing doing...just a checkstop and a "Have a good night."
Happy New Year! :)