Pats 3 @ Broncos 6

[Big Ern]

The Broncos got a 30-save night from backup G Morgan Clark, scored four goals in the third period and beat the Regina Pats 6-3 on Friday night in a soldout Credit Union i-Plex.

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As always, there is no lack of media coverage following a meeting between these two teams. Due to that reason and whlfans.ca's apparent technical difficulties in the past two hours, (website failed to open) I'll post a plentiful list of links to certain recaps of tonight's game, add my few tidbits, and get some sleep before my trip to Regina tomorrow.

Here are a few views on the game:

-from the Leader Post......http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/hockey/pats-hockey/Pats+lose+game+Broncos/1387903/story.html

-from the Swift Current Broncos' website..this recap emphasizes the soldout crowd tonight, a stat I thought the Broncos really fed off of to win the hockey game...http://www.scbroncos.com/news/932/

-the blog of Broncos' play-by-play voice, Jon Keen:....http://jonkeen.blogspot.com/2009/03/broncos-6-pats-3.html

-from the blog of Pats' play-by-play man, Rod Pedersen....Pedersen seems quite frustrated with the Pats, at one point stating that "the Pats keep finding ways to tease their fans, and then ultimately break their hearts"... http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/2009/03/broncos-6-pats-3.html

-from the Pats' website....according to this piece Derek Claffey, who scored the Broncos' first goal tonight, has changed his first name to Dustin...the accidental mistake was made by Pats' PR man Dan Plaster, who I believe submits the Pats' game recaps on their website..it's sort of comical because there IS in fact a Dustin Claffey...but he is Derek's older brother.....http://www.reginapats.com/News/592/

Just a couple things to mention....


-the Broncos had a 3-0 lead and certainly allowed the Pats back into the game by running into penalty trouble in the third. Three goals, including two on the man advantage were scored by Regina in a span of 4:05 in the third period.

-the Pats handed the reigns right back to Swift Current just 16 seconds after their third goal as Brad Hoban scored for the Broncos...the 4-3 goal which ended up being the game winner. The goal was a killer and Hoban was deserving of a goal like that...he has been offensively opportunistic for the better part of the fourth quarter this season.

-the Pats fell apart further from there, taking undisciplined penalties..mainly their veteran players...and allowing the home team to overtake the game completely. Again, the Broncos brought out the worst in the Pats and now hold a 6-1 edge in the eight game season series which will conclude tomorrow night at the Brandt Centre.

-the Bronco powerplay looked very good going 3 for 8. The Pats' PP didn't look too bad either at 2 for 6.

-both teams threw a couple young players into the mix. G Alexandre Sirard got a chance to sit on the bench and watch backup G Morgan Clark work at ice level, while number one G Travis Yonkman was wearing a dress suit in the stands. Will we see Sirard in goal at Regina tomorrow? Taylor Ernst got a few shifts for the Broncos and drew a +1. Regina responded by playing 16-year-old Derek Tendler in goal and young Andrew Rieder. Rieder scored his first goal in the WHL at 4:10 of the third to cut the Bronco lead to 3-1.

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I can't wait for tomorrow's game in Regina. As always, tonight's contest in Swift Current between these teams created a fairly exciting atmosphere. The second game shouldn't be any different.

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And quickly, a look at MY VIEW of how the Eastern Conference first round of playoffs will shake down as far as matchups are concerned. A lot is still undetermined...in fact the Broncos could still end up playing the Lethbridge Hurricanes in round one.

I'm gonna have a little fun with predictions. Here's what I see happening:

The Calgary Hitmen will face either the PA Raiders or Edmonton Oil Kings in round one. The Raiders and Oil Kings are both tied for the eighth and final playoff spot as of tonight. PA has one game left...tomorrow night in Saskatoon. The Raiders denied the Blades a WHL record 29th road victory tonight in PA with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Blades. The Raiders in my mind are unlikely to beat Saskatoon tomorrow. The Oil Kings have two more games remaining, both versus Red Deer in a weekend home-and-home starting tomorrow. I think the Oil Kings will win at least one of those games and maybe get a point in the other to prevail and grab the final playoff spot.

Edmonton (8) @ Calgary (1)

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are one point behind the Kootenay Ice for sixth in the conference and conclude their home-and-home with the Ice tomorrow night. The first game of those two, which happened tonight in Lethbridge saw the 'Canes win 4-1. I see the 'Canes beating the Ice tomorrow again and overtaking that sixth seed. They will not however, win their third game in three nights on Sunday when they host the Calgary Hitmen to finish the season, and will thus be denied the fifth seed and a meeting with Swift Current in round one. That would leave the Kootenay Ice in the seventh seed.

Kootenay (7) @ Saskatoon (2)

...which would leave Lethbridge in the sixth seed.

Lethbridge (6) @ Brandon (3)

....which would guarantee the final first round matchup.

Medicine Hat (5) @ Swift Current (4)

Remember, these are just MY predictions. I seldom predict but took a shot at it tonight. :)

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!

[smackitsakic]

Switch Saskatoon to be Lethbridge and Brandon to be playing Kootenay, and you should be spot on.

[stick boy]

So I want to hear what Broncos fans thought about the game misconduct to Rogers cause from where I was sitting that looked like a clean hit, although I would like to see a replay of that one.

What I don't get is why after Streuby put on the whole production of almost needing a stretcher to get off the ice Derkatch puts him on the powerplay less then 1:30 later???? Talk about showing up the referees who just handed you a 5 min powerplay. It came as little surprise that most of the calls went the Broncos way from that time on. To me Derkatch just doesn't understand those small coaching intricacies, perhaps that is why he is taking so much slack from fans and media right now. If there is one thing that pisses a ref off it is when a player fakes an injury to get a major penalty and then shows up just fine and dandy to play the powerplay only moments later.

On the Broncos side I sure hope Wagner is ok, he has looked very good as of late and we are running out of wingers for Wudrick and Eakin.

And what is with Claffey's recent scoring outburst - I use the terms loosely - that was a great shot at a crucial spot to get us the lead heading into the intermission.

And didn't our number one forward line of Dowling, Dansereau, and Tassone, I mean Stickland look great?

[Speedy Broncs]

Thinking the hit was in Strueby's back, maybe a minor penalty, not a major and a game. Solid hit though - Rogers hits bigger than his size. As for suspension, the league likely will look at every CFB penalty but hoping the refs provided some notes in their game recap. Definitely a production - how can you be near dead on the ice, and come back to play PP 90 seconds later and be able to CFB and cross check less than 10 minutes later in period?

SBoy - agree with your thoughts on refs' response to Derkatch putting Strueby back out so quickly. WHY DO THAT???

Sniper Claffey - sounds odd, doesn't it?