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| The Broncos celebrate a goal from captain Glenn Gawdin, centre. |
During their appearance in the CHL championship tournament,
the Broncos showed the heart that allowed them to win the WHL championship this
season. It marked the first time they won the league title in 25 years.
The Broncos are responsible for the last three WHL
championship victories by a Saskatchewan based club capturing the league crown
this year, in 1993 and 1989. At the Memorial Cup, the Broncos were ultimately
done in by the number of games they have played in the 2017-18 campaign.
On Wednesday before a sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators at
the Brandt Centre, the Broncos fell 6-5 to the host Regina Pats and were
eliminated from making the Memorial Cup’s playoff round finishing last in the
round robin at 0-3. Each Broncos setback came by a one-goal margin.
Wednesday marked the 101st time the Broncos hit
the ice for a hockey game in 2017-18 including action in the regular season,
WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament. The Broncos played a record 26
games in the WHL post-season to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
 |
| Colby Sissons created late excitement for the Broncos on Wednesday. |
“I noticed that coming into this tournament especially going
into the first game and especially in that second game. Our energy level was
very, very low. Normally when you are tired, you are going to make mistakes.
“I am so proud of that group. It is a real special group,
and (they) work real hard.”
Injuries were piling up too. The Broncos lost star
right-winger Tyler Steenbergen due to a concussion in their first game at the
Memorial Cup, which was a 4-3 overtime setback to the QMJHL champion
Acadie-Bathurst Titan last Saturday.
Star captain Glenn Gawdin had been playing
with a separated should since the third round of the WHL playoffs, and Russian
import defenceman Artyom Minulin needs surgery to fix a shoulder injury that he
has been playing with.
While all those things were working against them, the
Broncos heart showed on Wednesday, when they refused to go away trailing 5-2 in
the third period. A comeback attempt was sparked, when star Finnish import
left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi scored with 5:38 to play in the frame to cut the
Pats lead to 5-3.
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| Captain Glenn Gawdin piled up points while playing hurt. |
Regina appeared to restore order, when Czech import
defenceman Libor Hajek scored a power-play goal with 1:37 to play in the third
giving the Pats a 6-4 edge.
The Broncos still didn’t go away at that point. Gawdin
collected the rebound from a point shot taken by offensive defenceman Colby
Sissons and popped home a power-play goal with 49.5 seconds to play cutting the
Pats edge to 6-5.
Swift Current kept pushing right up to the final buzzer of
the third. In the dying seconds of the frame, Pats centre Matthew Bradley poked
the puck out to the centre ice zone, and the Regina side began celebrating
victory including the players on the ice and the coaches and players on the
bench.
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| Broncos fans were loud and proud cheering on their team. |
With that said, Sissons never say die effort symbolized the
resolve of the Broncos for the entire 2017-18 campaign, and that resolve almost
allowed them to continue playing.
The team’s resolve was shared by the club’s fans, who
traveled from Swift Current and area in droves for the squad’s three Memorial
Cup games. A lot of the supporters were farmers who took a break from planting
crops in the fields to go cheer on their hockey team. The Broncos fans were
just happy to see their team competing in major junior hockey’s most
prestigious tournament.
The Broncos fans provided one of the warmest moments of the
event on Monday, when they gave a rousing ovation to Skinner after he received
a first star award for making 54 saves in a 2-1 loss to the OHL champion
Hamilton Bulldogs.
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| Aleksi Heponiemi nearly sparked a rally on Wednesday. |
Still, the Broncos gave Swift Current an area a season to
remember. They finished second overall in the WHL with a 48-17-5-2.
Steenbergen scored the gold medal game winning goal for
Canada at the world juniors that wrapped up in January in Buffalo, New York. Of
course, they had a memorable post-season run to capture the WHL title.
The run included the “Miracle at the i-Plex,” where the
Broncos overcame a 3-0 deficit to down the Everett Silvertips 4-3 in overtime
in Game 2 of the WHL Championship series at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex.
The Broncos won the league crown in Game 6 on home ice with a 3-0 win over the
Silvertips.
The heart of the 2017-18 Broncos will never be forgotten in
Swift Current and area, and it will always be a warm memory in the city “where
life makes sense.”
Media arrive at Memorial Cup in large
numbers
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| Media members converge around Broncos goalie Stuart Skinner. |
The media riser at the west end of the Brandt Centre has
been full for all games at the Memorial Cup so far. The media scrums around
players have been some of the largest I have seen in 19 seasons covering major
junior hockey.
Of course, all the media outlets from Regina are
represented, and a number of media staffers have made appearances from smaller
Saskatchewan centres.
There has been some representation from media outside the
province including a reporter from Prince George, B.C.
For the younger members of the media, you can tell it is a
big thing for them to be at the Memorial Cup. It was refreshing to see that as
the number of people that cover the major junior hockey ranks in Canada on a
beat writing basis has shrunk greatly over the last seven years.
The more seasoned media members have enjoyed meeting the
younger media members, but they seem to really enjoy renewing old links with
other veteran media members they haven’t seen for a while.
Face to face contact among media members covering sports
doesn’t happen as often as it once did. With the way life changes, there is
always uncertainty if you will cross paths with old friends from the media
world in a media setting.
 |
| The media riser has been filled at the Memorial Cup. |
Due to the game starting at 8 p.m. local time, many were fighting
deadlines and were trying to get work completed at an hour that wasn’t totally
insane. For 8 p.m. starts, it is common for media members to finally leave the
rink at 2 a.m.
To help each other out, media members were sharing quotes
and facts to help complete work faster.
The influx of media members has to be viewed as a good thing
for those that oversee the Memorial Cup. At a lot of national championship
sporting events in Canada, you are often lucky to get a maximum of 10 members
of the sports media out at your event. Often you might see less than five media
members.
About 20 years ago, one of the ways a sporting event was
trumpeted as being a big thing was from the fact a large number of media
members covered the event. That practice has long been abandoned, because of
the dwindling numbers of sports media staffers in Canada.
For those that manage the CHL, they can take comfort in the
fact sports media member still want to go to the Memorial Cup, and it has a
lustre. A lot of other national championship sports events in Canada can’t make
the same claim.
Steel equaled record with five assist game
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| Regina Pats captain Sam Steel, right, had a record Wednesday night. |
The star centre from Sherwood Park, Alta., collected five
assists in the Pats 6-5 round robin victory over the WHL champion Swift Current
Broncos before a sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators at the Brandt Centre. Steel
equaled the record for most assists in one game at the Memorial Cup dating back
to when it started to be played in a tournament format back in 1972.
Two others also recorded five assists in one game at the
Memorial Cup since it has been contented in tournament format. Back on May 14,
1985, centre Dan Hodgson had five assists for the Prince Albert Raiders, when
they slipped past the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 8-6 in a round robin game.
The Raiders won that tournament held in Shawinigan and Drummondville, Que.
On May 26, 2013, centre Jonathan Drouin of the Halifax
Mooseheads recorded five assists in a 6-4 victory over the Portland Winterhawks
in the Memorial Cup championship game, when the event was staged in Saskatoon,
Sask.
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to stankssports@gmail.com.
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