Weekend Wrap

  What a difference good goaltending makes. Two impressive outings by G Morgan Clark were largely the cause of a 2-0 weekend for the Swift Current Broncos. 

  Friday in Prince Albert Clark made 33 saves to backstop his team to a 2-1 OT win over the Raiders. He followed it up last night with a stellar 37-save shutout versus the Red Deer Rebels. He faced most of the pressure early on. The Rebels had jump in the first period and out-shot the Broncos 12-6 but due to good goaltending Swift Current escaped the frame in a 0-0 tie. 

  Michael Stickland then started the Broncos' romp to victory with a hardworking goal at 10:41 of period two. For the longest time the game was tight. The Rebels had a perfect road game going but Stickland's goal seemed to break it wide open. The Broncos took over from there and had their first offensive breakout game in a while. A few of the goals scored were of the entertaining variety, including a highlight-reel goal by Cody Eakin as he beat two defenders and then the goalie with a drive-by to make it 2-0.  Dillon Wagner scored an interesting one when he shot a blind backhander at the maze of humanity net-front and ended up scoring. And of course Justin Dowling put three on the board for the hat trick. The Broncos also got boost from their defense. With the absence of captain Derek Claffey who sat out with a mild concussion, the young guns had to step up on the blue line and eat up the large number of minutes Claffey would normally play.   

  The two wins this weekend brought the team back to within one point of Moose Jaw for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Although Moose Jaw has two games in hand, they have yet to endure a tough U.S. division road trip before the end of the season. For the Broncos, the toughest portion of their remaining schedule is coming right up. They'll play Calgary, Saskatoon and Brandon in their next three matchups. So right now would be a great time to get on a roll.

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  The Swift Current Legionnaires spent this weekend in Beardys, where they lost 6-3 yesterday and 5-4 in overtime earlier today. The two road games were not broadcast live due to the unavailability of internet or cell phone services in the area. G Kyler Beckett took yesterday's loss with 31 saves, and G Lukas MacDonald earned first star honours in today's game with 49 saves.
  Their two losses and a couple of other relevant teams' wins eliminated the club from contention for a playoff spot. As of now they would need nine points to tie for eighth place in the league, but only have four games remaining. So the total number of points needed has now become unattainable.
  The team has had a very tough go this season on the injury front. What made it worse was who sustained the injuries. For the most part, the injured players happened to be team leaders and top point producers. The Legionnaires also started the season 0-10 and made it really difficult for themselves right off the hop.
  Up next for the club is a Thursday night visit to Wilcox for a meeting with the Notre Dame Argos. That game will be heard live on the Legionnaires broadcast network.

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  The Diamond Energy Wildcats capped off a fine weekend in fine fashion this afternoon with a 7-2 win over the Melville Prairie Fire. Melville also got beat 5-0 yesterday at the hands of the Wildcats. Leanne Gerwing got both wins between the pipes for the 'Cats, who finished off the home portion of their regular season schedule.
  They'll play one more road game....Wednesday night in P.A., before playoffs. They'll also make their way to Minnesota for a tournament before league playoffs begin.
  More details on that coming up in a later post.

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Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday!
   

Prairie Fire @ Wildcats

Blog update coming later today...

Currently I'm at Fairview West getting ready for the Wildcats and Prairie Fire.

It's the last regular season home game of the year for the girls. Game time is 1:30.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

Quick Friday Nighter

The Broncos won a crucial game 2-1 in OT tonight in P.A. Matt Tassone scored the winner and Adam Lowry got the other Bronco goal in the first period. The win moved Swift Current to within three points of Moose Jaw for the the final playoff spot in the WHL's Eastern Conference.

The Broncos were watching a few other teams on the scoreboard tonight. The Warriors got yet another loser point. They were down 3-1 to Red Deer and scored twice in the last two minutes to tie. The Rebels ended up winning in overtime. In Regina, the Blades also allowed the tying goal late...with 2:37 to go and then ended up winning in a shootout. So it was another one of those nights....a large number of points were handed out all over the place.

Swift Current will host Red Deer tomorrow and try to avoid a seventh straight loss on home ice.

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Recently, my blog has shied away from Bronco content a little bit. That doesn't mean I've lost interest in the team. The simple reason is that I've been awfully busy and forced to miss the odd game. I can't even watch on Web TV as often as I used to.

It's because of minor hockey, PA announcing/music, and a computer habit that I have. If it's not the Legionnaires playing a game here in town or somewhere else, the Wildcats likely have a home game. If it's not them, the Hurricanes and Raiders are always there. In fact, tonight I even did a game for the ReMax Wild at Fairview West. It's really tough to say no to people who kindly ask for your services. Aside from hockey, I'm really into Apple computers. A number of friends have caught onto that and asked for help ordering and setting theirs up. Then of course there's my daily job from 7 AM until 5 PM.

So if you're wondering why I don't post some days and why I don't include as much Bronco info as usual, sorry about that. Sometimes it just cannot happen. The time isn't there. Thanks a lot for visiting the blog though. I appreciate it.

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How about some more minor hockey notes now......:)

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The Legionnaires are in Beardys this weekend. They'll face the Blackhawks tomorrow and Sunday.

NEITHER GAME WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE due to the unavailability of internet or cell services in the area. The next live broadcast comes up Thursday from Notre Dame.

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The Diamond Energy Wildcats will play their last two regular season home games this weekend.

They'll host Mellville twice....tomorrow at 3:15 PM and Sunday at 1:30 PM. Both games will take place at Fairview West Arena. The girls have lost two of three on home ice and will look to put a nice finishing touch on their home schedule this weekend. BE THERE!

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That's it...see you tomorrow at the Bronco game. I cited it as the reason why I can't be in Kyle tomorrow to announce and play music for an Elks/Eston matchup!

Hitmen 2 @ Broncos 1

-the 2-1 final score was flattering for the Broncos. They were lucky not to be outscored by at least three goals more, given all the chances Calgary had to put the game to bed. 

-the Hitmen were snake-bitten in front of Broncos G Morgan Clark tonight especially in the second and third periods when they had most of their offensive chances. Calgary didn't go away though. After a pretty evenly matched first period they started pushing the pace consistently, out-shooting Swift Current 12-4 and 12-9 respectively in the last two periods. For a while they failed to bear down, but it finally paid off with Justin Kirsch's first WHL goal early in the third. It stood up as the game winner.

-Calgary is not a team of superstars this year, but they're obviously finding ways to win and are sitting comfortably in that 1-5 area of the conference.

-Morgan Clark had a solid night in goal making 34 saves for the Broncos. Their penalty kill was also top notch, killing all seven Hitmen power play chances.

-the home team played a stellar first period and even scored first with Dillon Wagner's ninth of the season. But their chemistry was amiss and they were intimidated by the physical Hitmen squad enough to trail off, give up too many scoring chances, and take a number of penalties in the process. All the while, the Broncos got virtually nothing to the opposing net.

-it must be getting awfully frustrating for this Bronco team. They've lost six straight games on home ice, three of those by one goal.

They'll travel to Prince Albert Friday to take on the Raiders. 

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One other note.....

Former Broncos captain Luke Hunter and his brothers did one heck of a job performing "Oh Canada" tonight. The Hunters have really gotten into the music thing and are a well-travelled family the past few years as a result. They'll be in concert at Swift Current's Sky Centre on February 20. The show starts at 7:30 and tickets are $10. 

Legionnaires 1 Hounds 4

  The Swift Current Legionnaires lost another game in their push for playoffs. The injury depleted club traveled to Wilcox tonight and dropped a 4-1 decision to the Notre Dame Hounds.
  The teams traded chances through 20 minutes, but neither team was able to find the back of the net. Swift Current could not capitalize on a 5 on 3 power play chance that lasted for 1:18. Then Nick Weiss scored his 26th and 27th of the season in the first 2:07 of period two to afford the Hounds a quick 2-0 lead. The hometown boys capped off the second period with a late goal from Marcus Basara to make it a 3-0 score.
   The Legionnaires definitely got their chances handed to them in the third. After Morgan Rielly made it 4-0, the Hounds' Liam O'Brien took a double minor and put the visitors on a four-minute power play. The Legions were unable to capitalize. Then, a very rare occurrence. Nick Weiss was handed nine minutes in penalties after an altercation with Legionnaires F Jeff Olson. The officials decided that Olson was an unwilling combatant and handed Weiss two for instigating, two for being the aggressor, and five for fighting. So the Legionnaires actually got a nine-minute power play out of the deal. Their only goal of the game was scored during that power play by Austin Connor at 14:04 of period three.
  G Kyler Beckett was solid in the Legionnaires net making 33 saves on 30 shots. Due to an issue with his skate, he was replaced temporarily by Lukas MacDonald in the final two minutes of period two. MacDonald allowed one goal on three shots during the span. At the other end, Notre Dame's Riley Parker made 26 saves for the win.
   In the end, the Legionnaires' 1 for 10 power play became the story of the game. The Hounds meanwhile capitalized on 2 of 5 power play chances.     
  The Legionnaires have six games remaining and need to go 5-1 to even tie for a playoff spot. So the magic number is three points. The Blazers and Harvest are tied for eighth and seventh place, so three more points by each team could also leave the Legionnaires behind for good.
  UP NEXT: The Legionnaires will be in Beardys for a two-game set this weekend. The games WILL NOT be heard live due to the unavailability of internet and/or phone services.

Sunday Notes

Happy Sunday! My coffee is tasting really good...so is yours I hope. 

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-it was a one-sided affair at Kyle Sports Centre last night as the hometown Kyle Elks beat the visiting Leader Flyers 11-1. The game was the first of a two-game total point series.

-most of the damage was done by Danny and Justin Williams. Each player netted a hat trick and added at least three assists.

-everyone expected the outcome to be much closer, given the fact that Leader is the defending champion in their league, the SWHL. It was close after the first period with Kyle leading just 2-0 but after that they ran with it. Leader's goaltending wasn't up to the task at all. The Flyers will have to beat the Elks by 10 goals tonight in Leader to have a chance at winning the series.

-it was sure fun to be present doing the public address announcing and music. The house was packed for this one. The 50/50 take-home portion topped out at $963. Ironically, Elks GM Rob Poole had the winning ticket and took home the cash.

-after the game we went to the Hotel for a couple beers. The best thing about the bar? The chairs. I have NEVER seen chairs like that in a small-town bar. Check it out sometime.

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Here at home, the Broncos allowed four goals in the third period and fell 7-4 to Saskatoon.

-earlier in the season, the Broncos lost most of their games on the road and were deadly at home. Now, they've lost five consecutive on home ice and are winning a large percentage of their road games. What has changed?

-out of all the teams currently within close proximity (in the 6-7-8-9-10 spots in the Eastern Conference) the Broncos have the toughest remaining schedule. They'll have to buckle up and find a way.

Up Next: Calgary is here on Wednesday.

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The Diamond Energy Wildcats blew their chance at a 2/2 weekend.

The Weyburn Gold Wings overcame a 2-0 third period deficit yesterday and beat the Wildcats 3-2. The winner was scored by Weyburn's Jade Popescul with just 52 seconds remaining in the third period. Megan French and Karrah Newkirk had scored for the Wildcats.

The girls' next game is versus Notre Dame this Wednesday at Fairview West. The puck drops at 7:45 PM.

Broncos Grab OT Win In Saskatoon / Wildcats Continue Dominance Over ND

  Taylor Vause did it again. The 18-year-old Calgarian scored his second overtime winner in two games tonight in Saskatoon, as the Broncos beat the Blades 4-3 in extra time. Vause and his team were coming off a victory similar to the one they earned tonight. On Tuesday, he had notched the winning OT goal in Moose Jaw. 
  The win was a big one for Swift Current, which moved back into a tie for 55 points and the eighth and final playoff spot in the WHL's Eastern Conference. The Broncos outshot the Blades 14-8 in the third period and 43-34 overall. The visitors trailed on the scoreboard for much of the game but never by more than one goal. They managed to tie it 3-3 at the most critical time when Justin Dowling potted his 23rd of the season at 14:16 of period three. Vause then netted the OT winner later on. The other two Bronco goals were scored by Cody Eakin, who got his league-leading 36th of the year shorthanded to lock the game in a 1-1 tie, and Stepan Novotny, who knotted the game 2-2 in the second period. G Mark Friesen got the win between the pipes. 
  The Blades got two markers from Euro F Marek Viedensky and one from Brent Benson in the overtime loss. Their goaltender Steven Stanford made 39 saves in a losing cause. The game marked the end of a rather unsuccessful five-game home stand for Saskatoon which won just once in all five tries on home ice.
  The same two teams will meet in Swift Current tomorrow for the concluding game in the weekend home-and-home set. The Broncos are 2-4 versus the Blades this year. Four of six games in the season series have been decided by one goal. 

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The Diamond Energy Wildcats got two goals from Bailey Habscheid and one from Shelby Nisbet en route to a 3-2 home ice win over the Notre Dame Hounds tonight.
  It was the Wildcats' third win this year over the squad from Wilcox and leaves them with a perfect 3-0 record in the season series. Going into tonight's game, the Hounds had a seven-point lead over the Wildcats for second place. Swift Current out-shot Notre Dame 35-25. They got the 2-2 goal from Shelby Nisbet early in the third, before Bailey Habscheid scored what would be the game winner with 4:35 to go in period three.
  Despite the win, Wildcats head coach Terry Pavely wasn't completely satisfied with his team's effort. The 0/7 power play stat must have factored into his thoughts, although he cited some errors in the second period as his main concern: "I would say tonight we didn't deserve to win as much as in previous games against this team. We weren't very good in the second period. We turned the puck over way too much." The coach however, also gave credit where it was due: "In the third period we battled hard to get the lead and our girls bent a little bit but they didn't break. Anytime you can beat that team...and we've done it three times in a row.....it's a good win."
  The Wildcats will play Weyburn tomorrow at Credit Union i-Plex. The puck drops at 2:15 PM.