Warriors 3 @ Swift Current 4 SO

[Big Ern]

In a game dictated by hard work and TERRIBLE ice conditions, the Broncos prevailed to beat the Warriors 4-3 in a shootout for their sixth straight victory. The guys did it for the parents in attendance on this, the annual parents' weekend, for the biggest crowd in Broncos' history as an amazing number showed up...2769, and for the grand opening of the newly renovated i-Plex. And the win felt good...it really did.

The Broncos worked hard all game long. Due to terrible ice conditions, they never managed more than a one-goal lead. We are not used to seeing that ice surface be problematic. Tonight, such was not the case. Guys were falling down, pucks were jumping all over the ice, and players skated awkwardly. There were some cute passes by our team all game long, and some pretty plays. I thought the bad ice kept a few out of the net. The main thing is, the guys brought it every shift...they are buying in and know what's on the line. Defensively, our group played pretty good...they finished checks, battled in the corners, and intercepted passes. Too bad Mike Wilson got injured in tonight's tilt. Doyle was good, as was Molle. There was one guy out there again who mades ome plays he would probably want back, but that's ok. I'm sure he'll bring it next game. Our team played pretty well defensively except for the stretch where the Warriors scored twice in a small period of time. Yonks looked sharp all game and in the shootout. How about up front? The forward line of Eakin/Dowling/Wudrick was once again PHENOMINAL. These three guys, especially Eakin, have been sensational lately. They bring energy, tremendous work ethic, and so on. Our older forwards brought it too...I thought the guys were very good...Weise was flying all night and came up with a goal, Levi Nelson played well again, and Erik Felde had a good game. So did Zack Smith. Again, the guys just kept pushing despite the Warriors taking the lead at one point....a "no-quit" attitude will get you results. Special teams were good again. The Broncos went 2 for 4 on the manpower advantage, and killed off 3 of 4 Warriors' powerplays. It's the first PP goal that Swift Current has allowed in a while...the PK has been exceptional. Overall, I thought our team put in a great effort...they had to in order to beat an owly MJ team tonight.

Moose Jaw played very well too. I thought the Warriors never went away....they just stuck with it and rode Perricone when they had to. Despite the shootout loss, they worked hard. They might have let up a bit after scoring the go-ahead goal which cost them. But otherwise, they played their game well. They lost one of their most valuable guys, McLaren, with a game misconduct on a dirty check from behind to open the game. The hit caused defenseman Mike Wilson to suffer a concussion. Joey Perricone made some game-saving plays to keep the game close. Moose Jaw is strong, but the Broncos are still a lot faster of a team and came up with the victory in the end.

Looking at tomorrow's game, it might seem easy. The Saskatoon Blades were involved in one or two multi-fight situations in Regina tonight...at times in this game, all hell broke loose. The league might come down hard on the Pats and Blades, which means Saskatoon will have a short bench tomorrow...potentially. However, this is not the attitude the Broncos have approached the last six games with, and you have to expect they will still not take the Blades lightly. Saskatoon DID win tonight's game in Regina 6-2....they can be dangerous despite their position in the standings. So our guys still have to bring their A-game to win.

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!


NOTES:

-the ice WAS TERRIBLE tonight...quite noticeably. That's kind of embarrassing...everyone in this league knows that this ice is the fastest of all the ice surfaces in this league. However, with the on-going construction, I guess it's something the guys will have to deal with. The dust came down when the ice was made at the beginning of the season, and seems to still be effecting it. And don't blame zamboni man, Terry Lovestone. He's a great guy....haha Hey Terry?

-official attendance....2769!!! Biggest crowd in franchise history? I would think so. Pretty decent atmosphere in the building, but more importantly, 2769 in attendance. WOW!

-how about the kind and assuring words from WHL Commissioner, Ron Robison, who came to break in the i-Plex? He's a respected figure in Canadian Junior hockey, and an incredible speaker. It's great of him to attend on this night...a history-making night with the Broncos and Swift Current. I gathered from his words that with the support, they want to keep the Broncos here for a LONG time to come....and he seems to be VERY pleased with the renovations. Good news!

-I am making the trip to Saskatoon for tomorrow's game. It should be a good one! Hopefully the roads are up to par with my driving...or vice versa.

-BTW Deano is now 4 and 0 versus Hunch. WOOOO!!!

-I LOVE nights like this when the Broncos win. But what makes it a LOT better of a night, is Dallas once again doing the predictable thing, and pulling a 4-1 win out of Edmonton. GO STARS GO!! That includes tomorrow night in Calgary on HNIC! My VCR will be hot recording the game while I'm gone in Saskatoon! haha

LET'S GO SWIFTY!!!

[Quarter Pounder W/ Cheese]

-how about the kind and assuring words from WHL Commissioner, Ron Robison, who came to break in the i-Plex? He's a respected figure in Canadian Junior hockey, and an incredible speaker. It's great of him to attend on this night...a history-making night with the Broncos and Swift Current. I gathered from his words that with the support, they want to keep the Broncos here for a LONG time to come....and he seems to be VERY pleased with the renovations. Good news!

I found the speech very ironic with Moose Jaw playing here last night. Talking about how the city stepped up to keep the franchise where it belongs. Ominous words for our neighbours down the highway?

Is anything even being done about the new arena in M.J.?

[CrazyGeorge]

No words about Matt Tassone winning player of the week Big Ern? Seem to say something about everything else.

[Big Ern]

No words about Matt Tassone winning player of the week Big Ern? Seem to say something about everything else.

You bring up the glaring weaknesses in my post-game recaps, CRAZYG. lol Indeed, I forgot to mention Matt and his "Fan's Choice POW" honours from later on yesterday.

I did however, congratulate him via text message, so I'm sure he'll oversee the fact that I forgot him in the recap.

Congrats to Matt!

[Scout]

Last updated at 11:07 PM on 01/02/08

Dansereau's shootout goal lifts Broncos to sixth straight win
The Southwest Booster

The Swift Current Broncos used a Keegan Dansereau shootout goal to earn their season high sixth straight win with 4-3 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night.

Swift Current had forced overtime when import David Stieler collected a powerplay goal with 7:06 left in regulation. Stieler banged in a lose puck that had ricocheted off the end glass, over the net, and into the feet of Warriors netmider Joey Perricone.

The Broncos also had goals from Dale Weise and Cody Eakin in front of a large crowd of 2,769 fans.

Moose Jaw had goals from Joel Broda, Neal Prokop and Ryan Stanton. The Warriors trailed 2-1 in the third period before threatening the Broncos winning streak with two goals in 33 second from Broda and Prokop.

Broncos netminder Travis Yonkman won his 23rd game of the season by turning aside 24 of 27 shots and all three shootout opportunities.

Moose Jaw’s Joey Perricone took the overtime loss despite stopping 38 of 41 regulation shots.

19-year-old defenseman Jesse Dudas is enjoying the Broncos winning streak.

“Yeah it was great, it was a hard fought game. I thought that we outplayed them the whole game and they just got a couple quick goals there. In particular the Eakin, Dowling, Wudrick line was unbelievable for us tonight. So it was a good two points for us.”

After 10 games in a Broncos uniform Dudas is fitting right in with his new team after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Prince George Cougars on Jan. 19th.

“I felt comfortable as soon as I got here and maybe the first couple of games. It has been an easy adjustment. We have good coaches and a good back end and are pretty strong everywhere from our first line to our fourth line.”

17-year-old Geordie Wudrick has been a big part of the Broncos recent success.

“Yeah for sure, we have been really hot lately,” said Wudrick. “This is a big streak and the longest since Dean has been here. We are all pretty excited about that. We had a little bit of a lapse there in the third period but we battled back like we have been doing and came out with the two points which was huge for us.”

Wudrick had a six-game point streak snapped on Wednesday but responded with a pair of assists on Friday night.

“Since Christmas I have just really felt rejuvenated and I have tons of energy out there. Going to the CHL Top Prospects game was huge for me it was a really good experience being with a couple of Hall of Famers in Lanny McDonald and Mike Vernon for about four or five days was really good and I learned lots from those guys. Just playing with all those top guys really boosted my confidence and really kick-started me the last four or five games.”

For Swift Current it was their season-best sixth consecutive win, improving their record to 29-20-0-5 and further tightening the Eastern Conference Standings. The Broncos 61 points pulls them within two points of the 28-15-4-5 Warriors who hold down fourth place in the Eastern Conference.