Sam will always be the “Man of Steel” for the Pats

Sam Steel will always be one of the Pats all-time greats.

    If you made any type of joke about how Sam Steel wasn’t the best interview subject, you automatically felt bad about it, because he was that good of a guy.

    During his time with the Regina Pats, the star centre’s actions always spoke way louder than his words. When it game to talking to the media in post-game interviews, he was more of a quiet person, but his skills in that department greatly improved as his WHL career progressed.

    With the Pats, the Sherwood Park, Alta., product morphed into a superhero. He became “The Man of Steel” with all the big plays he made for the Pats.

    In 258 career regular season games with the Pats, Steel piled up 123 goals, 215 assists for 338 points and a plus-78 rating in the plus-minus department. His career assists total rates sixth all-time and points total 10^th all-time in the history of the Pats.

Pats captain Sam Steel (#23) breaks past a Titan defenceman Adam Holwell.

    Steel, who stands 6-feet and weighs 184 pounds, appeared in 44 career WHL playoff games with the Pats collecting 18 goals, 39 assists and a plus-18 rating. At the Memorial Cup tournament that wrapped up on Sunday in Regina, Steel topped the tournament in scoring with two goals and 11 assists in five games.

    He claimed the Stafford Smythe Trophy as tournament MVP and was named to the event’s all-star team at forward.

    Steel played with great skill and a great heart. You could see his passion for the game on a nightly basis.

Sam Steel plays to honour his late older brother Patrick.

    The 20-year-old plays to honour his older brother, Patrick, who suddenly passed away at age 18 on November 9, 2011. Patrick was a forward in the junior A ranks with the Canmore Eagles of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, and he was found dead in his billet family’s home due to an undetected heart problem.

    From that tragedy, Sam paid tribute to Patrick assuming the mantra: Finish the play.

    Sam Steel became an easy player to cheer for. He also did everything right on and off the ice.

    I have had some friends in Regina who grew up in Moose Jaw cheering for the Warriors, who are the Pats bitter rivals. Those friends admitted that their children have grown up cheering for the Pats, and it feels wrong expect for the fact they look up to Steel so that makes everything OK.

Sam Steel makes a pass in the offensive zone.

    One friend, who has been a lifelong Warriors fan, has brought her son out to numerous Pats fans functions to see Steel. That friend told me it was impossible to hate Steel.

    At those functions, Steel will be the first player to arrive, sign autographs for every young fan that comes to meet him. He will have short visits with the young fans and show genuine interest in their lives. After two hours has elapsed and he has fulfilled every autograph request, he is the last Pats player to leave.

    It is like he is too good be true, but that is who he is.

    On the ice, you almost don’t know where to start with all the big games he had. Steel was part of a core group of players that included Adam Brooks, Chase Harrison, Connor Hobbs and Tyler Brown who helped the Pats win five series in the WHL playoffs from 2015 to 2017 and advance to the WHL Championship series in 2017 falling in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Together, they were the boys next door.

    To show how magical a time it was for the history Regina major junior franchise, the Pats won a total of three playoff series from 1994 to 2014.

From left, Sam Steel, Nick Henry and Cale Fleury celebrate a goal.

    During the 2016-17 campaign, Steel was named the MVP of the WHL and topped the CHL in scoring with 50 goals and 81 assists. On March 14, 2017 when the Pats locked up first place in the WHL regular season standings with a 5-4 win over the Saskatoon Blades at the Brandt Centre, Steel had a chance to take a rip shot on goal on a two-on-one break for his 50^th tally of the season, but he made a beauty setup pass to defenceman Josh Mahura for a goal near the end of the second period.

    When you saw Steel make plays like that, you realized why the Anaheim Ducks selected him in the first round and 30^th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

    In the second of the 2017 WHL playoffs, the Pats were in Swift Current trailing the host Broncos 3-1 in Game 6 needing a win to force Game 7. Brown, who was the Pats star goalie, made a big breakaway stop on Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin to keep the Pats in the game, and Steel sparked the offence.

Sam Steel (#23) drives hard to the net for the Pats.

    With 1:24 to play in the second period, Steel sent a beauty pass across the face of the Broncos goal to a pinching Mahura, who scored to cut the Broncos edge to 3-2. Few players could have made the pass on that play that Steel did down low around the Swift Current net.

    From that spark, the Pats tied things up at 3-3 before the second period ended and pulled out a 5-3 victory. Steel netted two goals in the Pats 5-1 victory in Game 7 of that series with the Broncos held in Regina.

    Steel kept piling up the memorable games this season being named the team’s captain at the start of the campaign in which the Pats were celebrating their 100^th anniversary and hosting the 100^th Memorial Cup. He appeared in 54 regular season contests with the Pats posting 33 goals, 50 assists and a plus-27 rating.
    On Jan. 5, he helped Canada win gold at world junior hockey championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

Sam Steel sits sixth all-time in career assists for the Pats.

    The Pats finished seventh overall in the WHL with a 40-25-6-1 record. Regina fell in a tough seven-game first round series to the Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL at 48-17-5-2 and won the league championship.

    Steel had big moments in that series. With the Pats facing elimination in Regina in Game 6 on March 31, Steel had a goal and two assists to power the Pats to a 7-2 victory to force a series deciding Game 7.

    In Game 7 on April 2 in Swift Current, Steel had helpers on both Pats goals as they dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Broncos. The Pats embarked on a 45-day layoff to prepare for the Memorial Cup.

    At the Memorial Cup, no one is going to forget the night Steel piled up five assists in a 6-5 round robin victory over the Broncos on May 23. He 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 in 1972.

Sam Steel sits 10th all-time in career points for the Pats.

    He shares that mark with Dan Hodgson of the Prince Albert Raiders from 1985 and Jonathan Drouin of the Halifax Mooseheads from 2013.

    In the tournament’s semifinal clash with the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs, Steel had the winning goal and an assist in a 4-2 victory. He picked up his assist setting up Jake Leschyshyn for an easy empty-net tally with 5.2 seconds to play.

    The Pats ultimately fell 3-0 in the Memorial Cup title game to the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The Titan claimed their first CHL championship with their victory over the Pats.

    While the Pats were heavily outplayed in the first two periods of that contest, Steel rang a shot off the goalpost in the second period and was robbed by the glove had of Titan netminder Evan Fitzpatrick in the third period.

    Coming out accept the Stafford Smythe Trophy from CHL president David Branch, Steel had tears in his eyes and was fighting to keep his composure. It was heartbreaking to see him like that.

Sam Steel looks to fire a shot on goal on the power play for the Pats.

    With a three-year NHL entry-level contract signed with the Ducks, it is unlikely Steel will return to the WHL for an overage campaign. That trophy presentation was likely that last thing he took part in wearing a Pats jersey as an active player.

    During the post-game media scrum, Steel talked about how great it was to be part of the city of Regina and how proud he was to be a member of the Pats. The reality of what happened still hadn’t sunk in.

    “I’m not sure what to think right now,” said Steel. “It is just tough.

    “Unbelievable group of guys. Even when we lost out and we were going through the training process, there was not one guy who complained.

Sam Steel, left, received the Stafford Smythe Trophy from David Branch.

    “I think it showed this tournament. We made each other proud for sure. I couldn’t be happier with the group of guys.”

    During a media availability on Tuesday, Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock said Steel has been a main part of his memory during his time with the team. Paddock became the Pats head coach and general manager before the start of the 2014-15 campaign, which was Steel’s 16-year-old rookie season with the club.

    “Four years have flown by,” said Paddock. “I think the ultimate compliment for him was he was a no maintenance guy.

    “It doesn’t matter how good he is to us, but it matters that you never have to worry about him. You need that kind of guy.

    “It is hard, but it is time. It is time for him to move on, and it is time for him to play pro. We still have a good core of guys, but he is sort of the easy guy to poster child that kind of guy in the organization, because that is what he was for us.”

The spectators at the Brandt Centre give Sam Steel one final ovation.

    Every team in the major junior ranks wishes they had a poster child type player like Steel, who could do it all. The Pats have to count themselves as being a pretty lucky team.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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100th Memorial Cup will be best remembered for great hockey

Titan LW Liam Murphy (#61) and Pats G Max Paddock dive at the puck.

    REGINA, Sask. – The biggest uncontrollable variable came through in spades at the 100^th edition of the Memorial Cup.

    During the eight games of the tournament that ran from May 18 and wrapped up on Sunday in Regina to determine supremacy in the Canadian Hockey League, the hockey was outstanding. Now two days after the event wrapped up, the biggest memory you take away was how tight the competition was.

    Out of the eight games, five of them were decided by one goal, while two were decided by two goals with the winning club registering an empty-net tally on each of those occasions.

    Sunday’s championship final turned out to be the contest with the biggest margin of victory as the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan blanked the host Regina Pats 3-0, and that contest included an empty-net goal by Titan right-winger Ethan Crossman with 30.3 seconds to play.

Captain Sam Steel brings the puck up ice for the Regina Pats.

    On top of that, all of those games were shown on national television via Sportsnet providing great exposure to the CHL game.

    You would be hard pressed to find a more compelling Memorial Cup. The WHL champion Swift Current Broncos went 0-3 and every loss came via a one-goal margin.

    Despite being tired and beat up due to playing a record 26 games in their run through the WHL playoffs, the Broncos, who finished second overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-17-5-2 record, could have conceivably been on the winning side of any or all of their games.

    Had they not given up two short-handed goal in their tournament opener against the Titan on May 19 surrendering leads of 2-1 and 3-2, the Broncos wouldn’t have been on the short end of a 4-3 overtime setback.

Colby Sissons and the Broncos didn’t get enough breaks at the Memorial Cup.

    A win in that game could have reversed their fortunes for the event overall. If Broncos star right-winger Tyler Steenbergen came out that contest without sustaining a concussion on an awkward, second period hit, that would have made a big difference for Swift Current too.

    The OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs were likely the most consistent club at the Memorial Cup. The Bulldogs downfall came from the fact they weren’t able to score even with having talented player like star centre Robert Thomas.

    In four tournament games, the Bulldogs, who finished third overall in the OHL’s regular season with a 43-18-4-3 record, posted a 2-2 mark at the Memorial Cup. They outshot their opponents 169-112 in those contests, but were outscored by their opponents 10-9.

Robert Thomas and the Bulldogs didn't get enough goals in Regina.

    The Bulldogs only scored more than two goals once in any of their outings when they downed the Titan 3-2 on May 22.

    Hamilton fell 4-2 in the tournament semifinal contest to the Pats last Friday despite having a 46-24 edge in shots on goal. The Pats sealed that win with an empty-net goal from Jake Leschyshyn with 5.2 seconds to play in the third period.

    In the championship final, the Pats, who were seventh overall in the WHL with a 40-25-6-1 regular season record, did have a real shot to win the game against the Titan, who finished second overall in the QMJHL regular season with a 43-15-8-2 mark.
    In the second period of that contest, right-winger Jared Legien and star captain Sam Steel both rang shots off goalposts.

Defenceman Josh Mahura, right, fires a shot on goal for the Pats.

    After 40 minutes, the Pats were down 1-0 and had been outshot 36-11, so had one or both of the goalpost shots by Legien or Steel have gone in, the storyline of that came could have played out differently.

    The Pats came out on fire in the third period of that contest holding a 17-8 edge in shots on goal. Steel had the best chance to tie things up, but he was robbed on a shot from the left slot by the glove hand of Titan netminder Evan Fitzpatrick.

    That set the stage for Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel to set up centre Samuel Asselin for a goal to put the Titan up 2-0 with 6:58 to play in the third. Victory was then sealed with Crossman’s empty netter.

Jake Leschyshyn brings the puck up ice for the Pats.

    Most Memorial Cups have good drama, but the drama and excitement in this year’s event was above and beyond normal.

    In one of about every five Memorial Cups, you often encounter a situation where one team is heads and shoulders about everyone else like in 2010 in Brandon, Man. That Memorial Cup is viewed as one of the best run tournaments, but the dominating storyline was the romp of the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires.

    The Spitfires flattened the host Wheat Kings and the WHL champion Calgary Hitmen by a combined score of 15-5 before needing overtime to outlast the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats 4-3. In the championship final, the Spitfires made short work of the Wheat Kings in a 9-1 triumph.

Defenceman Noah Dobson wins a battle along the boards for the Titan.

    At the 2016 Memorial Cup in Red Deer, Alta., the OHL champion London Knights won all three of their round robin games by a score of 20-5. That event ended with an off the charts exciting final, when the Knights rallied back from a 2-1 third period deficit to pull out a 3-2 overtime victory on Matthew Tkachuk’s winner to down the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 3-2.

    The last three of the eight games at the tournament in Regina were all sellouts at 6,484 tickets sold for each night. All of those contests featured the host Pats.

    Over 6,000 tickets were sold for five out of the eight games in Regina. The lowest total of 5,678 sold for the opener on May 18, when the Pats downed the Bulldogs 3-2.

Samuel Asselin had the Titan’s Memorial Cup insurance goal.

    Fanfest was popular. It seemed like it was hit and miss with large gatherings at the Brandt Celebration Zone even with the outstanding musical acts that were brought in.

    The Pats owners expect to swallow a $2-million loss financially for hosting the Memorial Cup mostly due to providing a $3-million hosting fee to the CHL. They said they never expected to make money on the event.

    Regina Leader-Post star sports columnist Rob Vanstone reported the hosting fee for next year’s Memorial Cup to be hosted in Halifax, N.S., by the Mooseheads is believed to be $1-million less than the fee spent to host the tournament in Regina.

    The host committee for the Memorial Cup in Regina brought in the Eagles to perform during an open ceremonies on May 17, and about 27,000 seats were sold for that event.

    The Pats owners could have scaled things back, but they wanted to put on a memorable event and stuck to their guns. To be honest, this year’s Memorial Cup had a lot of cool things attached to it.
    Away from the rink, the hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Regina saw great spinoffs from the fact the Memorial Cup was held in the Saskatchewan capital.

    While there are always things to learn along the way, the 100^th Memorial Cup in Regina overall will go down as a success.

The Titan pose for the tradition team picture with the Memorial Cup.

    The big thing that made it a success was the product on the ice. When you come to the Memorial Cup, you want to see exciting hockey.

    All eight games that were played at the event in Regina delivered exciting hockey in droves. It will likely be a number of years before all the games in another single Memorial Cup tournament can duplicate the great display of hockey that took place in Regina.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Steel cashes in on goalie gaff, Pats off to Memorial Cup final

Captain Sam Steel scored the winning goal for the Pats on Friday.

    If you give Sam Steel a golden opportunity, he is going to take it.

    On Friday night in the semifinal contest of the Memorial Cup tournament at the Brandt Centre, the host Regina Pats were holding a slim 2-1 lead in the third period over the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs. On a Regina dump in, Bulldogs netminder Kaden Fulcher came way out of his crease and nonchalantly passed the puck into an open area of the ice.

    The puck went on the stick of Steel, who is the Pats star captain. Fulcher fell down to the ice after being stick checked by Pats left-winger Nick Henry. Steel easily skated around the fallen goalie and placed the puck into an empty cage to give the Pats a 3-1 edge with 5:55 to play in the frame.

    That tally turned out to be very key. Just 73 second later, Bulldogs right-winger Will Bitten broke down the right wing of the Regina zone on a breakaway and lifted home a shot to the top right corner on Pats netminder Max Paddock to cut the Regina lead to 3-2. Bitten was sent in on his breakaway on a beauty spring pass from Bulldogs defenceman Benjamin Gleason.

    Hamilton couldn’t net the equalizer.

    Steel’s gift goal turned out to be the winner. He later came up with a key shot block in the final minute. Seconds after that shot block, Steel gave a set up to centre Jake Leschyshyn for an easy empty-net goal with 5.2 seconds remaining in the third to deliver the Pats to a 4-2 victory to send the announced sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators into a frenzy.

Pats centre Jake Leschyshyn scored into an empty net on Friday.

    With the win, the Pats improved to 3-1 in the CHL championship tournament and advanced to Sunday’s championship final to face the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan (2-1) at 5 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    Besides Steel’s big plays, the difference in Friday’s contest was the play of the goaltenders on both sides.

    Fulcher had by far the best statics in the round robin portion of the Memorial Cup. He was good but not outstanding in the Hamilton goal on Friday turning away 20 of 23 shots sent his way, which included the lapse on Steel’s winning goal. The Bulldogs finished the tournament with a 2-2 record.

    Max Paddock, who is the Pats rookie 17-year-old netminder, had a couple of shaky games during the round robin portion of the tournament, but looked like a rookie phenom making 44 saves against the Bulldogs.

    His biggest stops came after the Pats lead shrank to 3-2. Bulldogs left-winger Marian Studenic drove down the right wing and had an initial shot stopped and a rebound shot turned away by Paddock.

Goalie Max Paddock made 44 saves for the Pats on Friday.

    After the Bulldogs pulled Fulcher for an extra attacker, Paddock stoned Bulldogs right-winger MacKenzie Entwistle on a wraparound and Bitten on the rebound chance.

    That set the stage for Steel’s shot block inside of the final minute and his set up to Leschyshyn for the empty-net tally.

    Inside the first minute of the first period, the Bulldogs tried to set a physical tone as defenceman Riley Stillman nailed Pats right-winger Cameron Hebig with a big open ice hit.

    The Pats struck first scoring 5:22 into the first period, when right-winger Austin Pratt knocked home the rebound from an Emil Oksanen shot to go ahead 1-0.

    The Bulldogs evened thing up at 1-1 at the 7:35 mark of the second, when defenceman Nicolas Mattinen one-timed home a shot from the point off a set up pass from Gleason. Mattinen had been a bit snakebitten in the Memorial Cup firing a number of shots off goalposts, which included hitting the crossbar of the Regina net late in the first period of Friday’s game. 

Cameron Hebig had a goal for the Pats on Friday.

    Regina jumped back out in front 2-1 at the 11-minute mark of the second, when Hebig fired home a shot from the front of the Hamilton net after taking a good set up pass from offensive defenceman Josh Mahura.

    A short time after Hebig’s tally, Bulldogs captain Justin Lemcke took down Pats left-winger Bryce Platt in one of the rare fights that have occurred in about the last two decades of the Memorial Cup tournament.

    Lemcke’s attempt to spark his club had mixed results, as the Bulldogs fired a lot of shots at the Pats net but there wasn’t an explosion of offence for the Hamilton side.

    The Pats as team blocked a lot of Bulldogs shot attempts, and Regina brought a bit of a physical game too. Regina defenceman Cale Fleury had a big hot on Stillman in the third period.

    A week ago on May 18, the Pats and Bulldogs opened the Memorial Cup tournament with a round robin game that was claimed by the Pats 3-2, when Henry scored the winning goal in that contest with 32.6 seconds to play in the third period.

    The Bulldogs finished third overall in the OHL’s regular season standings with a 43-18-4-3 record and advanced through the playoffs with a 16-5 mark. The Bulldogs took out the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in six games in the OHL’s Championship series.

Josh Mahura had an assist for the Pats on Friday.

    In the third period of Friday’s game, the Bulldogs lost a number of hustle plays and physical battles to the Pats.

    The Pats entered the Memorial Cup off a stretch of having 45 days off after being eliminated in Game 7 of a tough first round WHL playoff series on April 2 to the Swift Current Broncos, who won the WHL title. The Broncos were eliminated in the Memorial Cup after going 0-3 in the round robin with all three setback coming by a one-goal margin.

    The Pats finished seventh overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 40-25-6-1 record and will attempt to win their fourth Memorial Cup title in team history, with the last championship coming back in 1974 when the tournament was held in Calgary.

    The Titan finished second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 43-15-8-2 record and went 16-4 in the playoffs. Acadie-Bathurst claimed the round robin clash with Regina at the Memorial Cup 8-6 on May 20.

    As five out of the seven games played at the Memorial Cup were decided by one goal and two were decided by two-goals, this Memorial Cup has been one of the tightest contested ever, and which should bode well for expectations of excitement in Sunday’s championship final.

Viveiros departs Broncos for NHL’s Oilers

Head coach Manny Viveiros mans the Swift Current Broncos bench.

    After two memorable seasons with the Swift Current Broncos, Manny Viveiros is moving on to the NHL.

    On Thursday at a news conference in Swift Current, Viveiros stepped down as the head coach and director of player personnel for the Broncos to become an assistant coach with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
    The 52-year-old from St. Alberta, Alta., led the Broncos to a 10^th overall finish in the WHL’s regular season standings in 2016-17 with a 39-23-4-6 record. The Broncos advanced to the second round of the WHL playoffs falling in a tough seven-game series to the Regina Pats, who would advance to the WHL Championship series.

    This past season, Viveiros guided the Broncos to the second best record in the WHL’s regular season at 48-17-5-2. The Broncos set a record playing 26 games in the WHL playoffs winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup and capturing the league title for the first since 1993. Swift Current advanced to the Memorial Cup tournament to play for the CHL title.

    At the Memorial Cup tournament in Regina, Sask., the Broncos went 0-3 in round robin play falling by a one-goal margin each time out.

Manny Viveiros lifts the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

    Before joining the Broncos, Viveiros coached Austria’s national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. After the Olympics, Viveiros coached ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (Del) as an assistant coach in 2014 and head coach in 2015.

    In WHL circles, Viveiros is remembered for playing four season for the Prince Albert Raiders from 1982 to 1986 appearing in 251 regular season games collecting 60 goals and 261 assists. He helped the Raiders win the Memorial Cup in 1985.

    Viveiros was selected in the sixth round and 106^th overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Oilers. He appeared in 29 NHL regular seasons over three seasons from 1985 to 1988 with the Minnesota North Stars collecting one goal and 11 assists. He spent 16 seasons playing professionally in Austria from 1991 to 2007.

    The Broncos also announced director of business operations Dianne Sletten is moving to other pursuits leaving the team after six seasons.

Does the “Curse of the Drop” still live?

    Friday marked the 10^th anniversary of one of the infamous and biggest blooper moments in the history of the Memorial Cup.

    On May 25, 2008, the WHL champion Spokane Chiefs downed the host Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in the Memorial Cup tournament’s championship game. It marked the second time the Chiefs captured the Memorial Cup to become CHL champions.

    After winning the title in 2008, Chiefs captain Chris Bruton accepted the Memorial Cup. Bruton turned and was going to give the Memorial Cup to defenceman Trevor Glass. Glass, who was in his 19-year-old season at the time, was with the Medicine Hat Tigers the previous campaign when they won the WHL title and fell 3-1 in the Memorial Cup championship game to the host Vancouver Giants.

    As Bruton reached out to hand the Memorial Cup to Glass, the trophy separated at the neck and fell to the ice to the shock of the spectators in Kitchener, Ont.

    Following that moment the WHL went on its longest drought ever of not winning major junior hockey’s biggest prize spanning five seasons from 2009 to 2013. Clubs from the WHL became eligible to play for the Memorial Cup on a regular basis in the 1970-1971 campaign.
    The drought was broken by the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014. Edmonton was playing to honour the memory of former player Kristians Pelss, who was with Edmonton’s 2012 WHL championship team and passed away in 2013 due to a recreation diving accident.

    After the Oil Kings win, the WHL entry was unable to win the next three Memorial Cup tournaments. The WHL has won one of the last nine Memorial Cup tournament, so the host Regina Pats will try and make that record two for the last 10, when they face the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Sunday’s championship game (5 p.m., Brandt Centre).

    The video of the Chiefs mishap with the Memorial Cup can be found below.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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The heart of the WHL champion Broncos will live forever

The Broncos celebrate a goal from captain Glenn Gawdin, centre.

    REGINA, Sask. – They might have been running on fumes, but the Swift Current Broncos kept finding the emotional energy to keep pushing forward at the Memorial Cup.

    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 101^st 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.

    Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros said fatigue was setting in for his club at Wednesday’s post-game press conference, but he loved the battle his player kept continuing to show.

Colby Sissons created late excitement for the Broncos on Wednesday.

    “Our mistakes were I thought throughout this tournament were tired mistakes,” said Viveiros. “Our group is tired.

    “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.

Captain Glenn Gawdin piled up points while playing hurt.

    After the Broncos pulled netminder Stuart Skinner for an extra attacker, overage star centre Giorgio Estephan lifted a shot over the shoulder of Pats netminder Max Paddock with 2:49 to play in the frame cutting the Pats lead to 5-4.

    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.

Broncos fans were loud and proud cheering on their team.

    Sissons tracked the puck down and fired a Hail Mary shot towards the Pats net. The puck went past an oblivious Paddock and defenceman Josh Mahura into the goal with 0.1 seconds remaining on the clock. Four Broncos players were pinned deep in the Regina zone, so Sissons potential equalizer didn’t count as the play was ruled offside.

    It was physically impossible for those Broncos players to clear the zone to prevent any play from being offside in that situation.

    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.

Aleksi Heponiemi nearly sparked a rally on Wednesday.

    Swift Current’s story was so good that it would been nice to see it continue.

    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

Media members converge around Broncos goalie Stuart Skinner.

    In an era where the mainstream media has been cut to less than skeleton crew levels in Canada, it was a great to see a large media presence at the Memorial Cup.

    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.

    One of the best sights came after Wednesday’s round robin game, where the host Regina Pats downed the WHL champion Swift Current Broncos 6-5. 

    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

Regina Pats captain Sam Steel, right, had a record Wednesday night.

    Regina Pats captain Sam Steel joined some elite company on Wednesday night in the Memorial Cup record book.

    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.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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“Man of Steel” rises again for Pats in 6-5 win over Broncos

Regina eliminates Swift Current from Memorial Cup

Captain Sam Steel pushed the Pats into the Memorial Cup semifinal.

    REGINA, Sask. – The Regina Pats needed every bit of Sam Steel’s heroics as “the Man of Steel.”

    The Pats captain had five assists to help his team outlast a determined Swift Current Broncos side 6-5 in the final round robin game for both clubs at the Memorial Cup championship tournament on Wednesday night at the Brandt Centre.

    Steel’s effort almost wasn’t enough as Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin and Finnish import left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi pulled a Batman and Robin act to give the WHL champions every shot to pull out a victory before a sellout crowd of 6,484 spectators. 

    Gawdin had two goals and an assist, while Heponiemi had a goal and three assists.

Glenn Gawdin had two goals and an assist for the Broncos.

    With the win, the Pats conclude the round robin portion of the tournament with a 2-1 record and advance to play the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs (2-1) in a semifinal playoff game on Friday at 8 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    The QMJHL champion Acadie Bathurst Titan (2-1) qualified for the championship contest of the Memorial Cup thanks to the result of Wednesday’s round robin game. While the Pats, Bulldogs and Titan all had identical round robin records, the Titan finished first and the Bulldogs second thanks to a tiebreaking rule that used a mathematical formula involving the goals for and goals against between the three clubs in their head-to-head games.

    The Broncos finished 0-3 in the round robin portion of the Memorial Cup and were eliminated from making the playoff round of the CHL championship tournament.

Aleksi Heponiemi had a goal and three assists for the Broncos.

    Swift Current lost all three of its games at the Memorial Cup by a one-goal margin. The Broncos had finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-17-5-2 mark.

    “They (the Broncos) are just a really good team,” said Steel. “They have a lot of heart to fight back.

    “We saw that tonight. We played a good game, got up and we knew they were going to have a push. It was good.”

    Steel helped the Pats go ahead 1-0 at the 7:36 mark of the first period, while working on the power play. The Sherwood Park, Alta., product found linemate Nick Henry with a backdoor pass in the left slot, and Henry fired home his first of three goals on the night.

    The Pats extended their lead to 2-0 at the 10:29 mark of the third working on another power play.

Left-winger Nick Henry had a hat trick for the Pats.

    Steel passed the puck from the right boards to linemate Cameron Hebig at the left post of the Swift Current goal, and Hebig redirected the puck into the net to give Regina a two-goal edge.

    At that point, the goals came at a rapid pace. Gawdin netted his first of the night at the 11:46 mark of the second to cut the Pats lead to 2-1. Steel set up Henry for his second goal of the contest at the 16:09 mark of the second, while Regina was short-handed to make the score 3-1 in the Pats favour.
    Just 23 seconds after Henry’s short-handed marker, Beck Malenstyn scored a power-play goal for Swift Current to cut Regina’s edge to 3-2.

Broncos D Artyom Minulin turns the corner on Pats RW Cameron Hebig.

    The Pats extended their lead to 4-2, when Steel found Henry with a crazy pass across the face of the Broncos goal. Henry fired his third tally of the night into the open left side of the net.

    “I just had a couple of good passes and guys were putting it in,” said Steel. “They were finding the right spots.

    “It is good to chip in. We got the win, and that is the most important thing. I’m just focused on getting a championship here.”

    The Pats appeared to seal the game away, when left-winger Bryce Platt scored at the 10:43 mark of the third period to put Regina up 5-2.

Libor Hajek scored the winning goal for the Pats.

    The Broncos fought back again. Heponiemi scored at the 14:22 mark of third, and Giorgio Estephan flipped a close in shot over Pats netminder Max Paddock at the 17:11 mark of the third to cut the Regina lead to 5-4. Estephan scored his goal after the Broncos pulled netminder Stuart Skinner for an extra attacker.

    With 2:12 to play in the third, the Broncos were penalized for too many men during a mix up, when they tried to pull Skinner again for an extra attacker. The extra attacker jumped on to the ice, while Skinner froze on his way to the Swift Current bench.

    On the ensuing power play, Steel got the puck to Czech import defenceman Libor Hajek. Hajek skated low slot to the left side of the Swift Current goal and put a shot past Skinner to give the Pats a 6-4 lead with 1:37 to play.

    Just as the Pats faithful were heavy in their celebrations, Gawdin potted his second of the contest with 49.5 seconds to play in the third to cut the Pats edge to 6-5. Gawdin’s goal came with the Broncos working on the power play.
    At that point, the sizable contingent of Broncos fans in attendance roared louder than they had at any point in the game.

The Pats celebrate Libor Hajek’s winning goal.

    In the final seconds, the Pats had a couple of big shot blocks, which helped preserve victory.

Paddock made 26 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Pats. Skinner turned away 22 shots to take the setback in goal for the Broncos.

    Way back on April 2, the Broncos knocked the Pats out of the WHL playoffs taking Game 7 of a first round series 3-2 at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current. Steel said the Pats expected a big battle.

    “We knew what was on the line,” said Steel. “We knew these guys knocked us out.

    “We knew they were a really good team. We came out hungry.”

    Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock was pleased with Steel’s product on Wednesday, and the veteran bench boss said he was impressed with how Steel ensures he always ready to play.

    “He does everything he possibly can to prepare himself to play a game in practice,” said Paddock. “I think it relates a lot to his upbringing.

The fans at the Brandt Centre salute the Pats after their win.

    “He is extremely skilled. You just never have to worry about him. That is a really good compliment for a player when you don’t have to worry about him being ready to play.”

    Now the Pats look forward to playing the Bulldogs. Regina beat Hamilton 3-2 in the round robin clash between the two sides to open the Memorial Cup back on May 18. Henry scored the winning goal in that contest with 32.6 seconds to play in the third period.

    “We heard they weren’t too happy with their play,” said Steel, who leads all players in scoring at the Memorial Cup with one goal and 10 assists. “We expect a better performance out of them.

    “We have to be prepared for it and just come out and lay it all on the line.”

Stanley Cup pays a visit, other notes

Broncos supporters are picture with the Stanley Cup and Memorial Cup.

    Two of hockey’s biggest trophies were the centre of attention at Fanfest on Wednesday.

    The Stanley Cup made a visit to the Memorial Cup tournament, and fans could have their pictures taken with it and the Memorial Cup at the same time. It was a rare opportunity to see the biggest prize in professional hockey and major junior hockey at the same time.

    There was a pretty healthy lineup of fans willing to see both trophies in the 75 minutes leading up to Wednesday’s contest. With the final round robin clash featuring the two Saskatchewan entries at the Memorial Cup, fans wearing apparel of the WHL champion Swift Current Broncos and the host Regina Pats dominated the lineup of people waiting to have their pictures taken with the two iconic trophies.

• During the press conference following Swift Current’s elimination from the tournament on Wednesday, Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros said the club’s star right-winger Tyler Steenbergen suffered a concussion in the team’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan last Saturday. Steenbergen missed the Broncos last two round robin games. Viveiros said Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin has been playing with a separated shoulder since the third round of the WHL post-season and Russian import defenceman Artyom Minulin is going to have shoulder surgery in the off-season.
• Including play in the regular season, WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament, the Broncos took the ice for 101 games in 2017-18.
• The round robin portion of the Memorial Cup was extremely competitive as five of the six games were decided by a one-goal margin. The one contest that wasn’t decided by a one-goal margin came last Sunday, when the Acadie-Bathurst Titan downed the Pats 8-6 with the aid of an empty-net goal.
• Bulldogs 19-year-old netminder Kaden Fulcher tops all goalies at the Memorial Cup with the lowest goals against average at 2.01 and the highest save percentage at .931. Fulcher is the only starting puck stopper to have a goals against average that is under three goals allowed per game.
• The annual Memorial Cup tournament brings together people from all over the hockey world. On Monday, I got to visit veteran junior hockey broadcaster Peter Loubardias, Swift Current Broncos athletic trainer Jamie LeBlanc, Regina Pats athletic trainer Greg Mayer and Prince Albert Raiders athletic trainer Duane Bartley at the same time. All four are great people, and you felt like you were hanging out with the cool kids when you are around them.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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