Rebuilding Broncos rally for huge OT win over Blades

Joona Kiviniemi celebrates scoring the OT winner for the Broncos.

    Tanner Nagel said a big comeback win was a great thing for the youngsters on the rebuilding Swift Current Broncos to experience.

    Nagel, who is the Broncos overage captain, is the only holdover that was a regular on Swift Current’s WHL championship winning team last season. During that run to the WHL title, Nagel got to experience many thrilling victories including a number of the comeback variety.

    Now, the Broncos are a team that has 10 players in their 17-year-old seasons and two in their 16-year-old seasons on their 23-person roster. On Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre, the youthful Swift Current side experienced a rare high in a campaign where the team has trudged along in last place in the entire WHL.

    Trailing the host Saskatoon Blades 4-2 with five minutes remaining in the third period, the Broncos roared back to pull out a 5-4 overtime victory before 3,637 spectators.

Tanner Nagel scored twice for the Broncos on Saturday night.

    In the extra session, Broncos Finnish import left-winger Joona Kiviniemi one-timed home a set up pass from rookie defenceman Alex Moar with 3.4 second remaining in the frame to deliver victory to Swift Current. The Broncos improved to 10-34-2-1 with the win.

    “We have a lot of young guys in the room, so it is great to see them push back in games where we are down,” said Nagel, who scored twice for the Broncos on Saturday. “That is what we are trying to focus on is just teaching them that you have to keep playing right until the bitter end.

    “You are never out of a game. We showed that here tonight.”

Alex Moar set up the Broncos overtime winner on Saturday night.

    Down 4-2, the Broncos comeback started when Nagel scored on the power play sniping home a shot to the low right side of the Saskatoon goal to cut the Blades edge to 4-3 with 4:39 remaining in the third period.

    Broncos head coach and director of hockey operation Dean Brockman pulled netminder Riley Lamb for an extra attacker with about three minutes remaining in the third. Swift Current kept the play bottled in the Saskatoon zone with the extra skater.

    With 1:35 remaining in the stanza, Broncos 18-year-old right-winger Owen Blocker snipped the equalizer past Blades netminder Dorrin Luding to force a 4-4 tie.

    In overtime, both sides had numerous scoring chances before Kiviniemi ended it.

The Broncos celebrate an equalizer from Owen Blocker, right.

    Lamb turned away 48 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos. Luding made 19 stops to take the extra time setback in goal for the Blades, who sit third overall in the WHL with a 29-13-7 mark.

    One night earlier, the Blades dumped the Broncos 5-2 in Swift Current.

    “Any time you win it is a good day,” said Brockman, whose Broncos beat the Blades for the first time this season in six tries on Saturday. “Certainly, they out-chanced us and had a lot of shots.

    “I give our guys a lot of credit. We challenged them after (Friday) night’s game to be better and work hard and they did. That is what you do when you work hard you find ways to get success.”

Goalie Riley Lamb makes one of his 48 saves for the Broncos.

    The Blades got out to a quick start. Just 38 seconds into the contest, right-winger Max Gerlach sprung left-winger Gary Haden in on a breakaway and Haden buried his 21^st of the season to give the host side a 1-0 edge.

    The Broncos evened things up a 1-1 just under three minutes later, when Nagel banged home a rebound for his first goal of the game off a shot taken by defenceman Christian Riemer.

    With 58.7 seconds remaining in the first period and Saskatoon working on the power play, Blades overage offensive defenceman Dawson Davidson scored on a point shot that just snuck under Lamb to give the host side a 2-1 edge going into the first intermission.

Dawson Davidson scored for the Blades on Saturday night.

    At the 6:04 mark of the second, the Broncos tied things up at 2-2 scoring their first short-handed goal of the campaign. The shorty came when Swift Current centre Ethan O’Rourke blocked a point shot taken by Blades 16-year-old rookie left-winger Kyle Crnkovic.

    The puck shot out to the centre ice zone, and O’Rourke tracked it down and skated into the Saskatoon zone on a breakaway. He tucked home his eighth goal of the season to get the Broncos on even terms for a short time.

    Saskatoon jumped back out in front 3-2 just under four minutes later thanks to a power-play goal coming off the stick of centre Eric Florchuk.

    Before the second period expired, left-winger Cyle McNabb potted his fifth goal of the season to give the Blades a 4-2 advantage.

    The Blades outshot the Broncos 16-4 in the third period but couldn’t prevent the Broncos comeback dramatics late in the frame and in overtime.

Ethan O’Rourke pots a short-handed goal for the Broncos.

    When Nagel scored late in the third to cut the Blades lead to one goal, Brockman hoped the comeback would indeed be on from that point.

    “This is a team where they’ve always had their backs up against the wall all year,” said Brockman. “Nobody expects us to win a game.

    “I want to give our kids a lot of credit. They were pretty resilient and stayed with it and found a way.”

    Nagel was excited about the final result.

    “Winning is awesome,” said Nagel. “It is the best feeling in the world.

    “It doesn’t matter if it is a game tonight or it is the WHL championship. A win is a win, and I love to win. Anytime you can win a game it is awesome.

Eric Florchuk (#17) had a power-play goal for the Blades.

    “Any time you can come from behind and win a game that is an even better feeling. The young guys showed resilience and the team showed resilience top to bottom. We’re feeling pretty good.”

    The Blades are off until Friday, when they travel to Regina to face the Pats at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    The Broncos return to action on Wednesday, when they host the Calgary Hitmen at 7 p.m. at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex. Nagel said Saturday’s comeback victory will be a big time help to his team going forward.

    “Any time we get the young guys going and playing hard like this, it is great to see them keep chugging along,” said Nagel. “They are learning as we go.

The Broncos celebrate their win on Saturday night.

    “I think every time we put up a good game it just helps them learn a little more.”

    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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Heckling part of life in major junior hockey

Raspberry treatment can hurt worse depending on situation

Giorgio Estephan in action for the Hurricanes in the 2017 WHL playoffs.

    For as long as major junior hockey has existed or junior hockey for that matter, heckling has been part of the game, and it will be part of the game for the foreseeable future.

    Depending on the situation, the raspberry treatment can hit deeper to the core.

    When the Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes advanced to meet each other in the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference championship series, one of the big plot lines that came to mind revolved around a blockbuster trade the two teams made with each other on Jan. 9, which was one day before the WHL’s trade deadline.

    In that deal, the Hurricanes sent star overage captain Giorgio Estephan, star 19-year-old netminder Stuart Skinner and winger Tanner Nagel, who turned 20 in late January, to the Broncos.

    In exchange, the Broncos sent overage star netminder Logan Flodell, rookie centre Logan Barlage, who turned 17 in early January, sophomore centre Owen Blocker, who turned 18 in late March, sophomore defenceman Matthew Stanley, who turned 20 in early February, a first round selection and a third round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a future conditional second round pick in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft to the Hurricanes.

    The on ice battle has been intriguing. The Broncos entered the series as favourites having finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 48-17-5-2 record, while the Hurricanes were 16^th overall with a 33-33-6 mark.

    The Broncos lead the series 3-2 taking all three games held in Swift Current by a one-goal margin each time out. The Hurricanes won both contests held in Lethbridge by respective 5-1 scores. Game 6 is set for Monday at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge with a 7 p.m. local time start.

    The other main compelling story has been the fact Estephan and Skinner have been the targets of heckles during the games held in Lethbridge. Social media lines have contained sizable debate about the treatment both players have received in their former WHL home rink on whether it is warranted or not.

Stuart Skinner in action with the Hurricanes in 2017.

    As far as Hurricanes fans are concerned, there are some that say Estephan and Skinner shouldn’t be heckled and others are fine with what has gone down.

    I remember a visit I once had with former Saskatoon Blades owner Jack Brodsky. He told me that the fans paid money for the ticket, and if they don’t like the product they see on the ice, they have a right to “boo” or voice their displeasure with the product. The context of that visit did focus on the hometown fans being critical of the home team.

    For myself, I am good with fans booing or heckling players on the ice. I realize the players can range in age from the 15-year-old call up to the overager that just celebrated his 21^st birthday. Major junior is supposed to help prepare players for life in the professional ranks, and dealing with hecklers is part of that training too.

    If you don’t learn how to deal with that in rinks with 5,000 spectators, how do you deal with that in professional rinks with 18,000 spectators?

    Historically in major junior hockey, there have been players who have relished being the villain in opposition rinks like Sean O’Connor when he played for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Tanner Shultz when he played for the Blades or Derek Dorsett when he played for the Medicine Hat Tigers. They are looking forward to the hecklers on the road.

    Of course, there is a line. Fans shouldn’t do anything that physically harms a player, yell something derogatory based on race or scream you wished a certain player was dead.

    In the case of Estephan and Skinner, it feels like an unwritten code of respect has been broke. Of course, hockey is full of unwritten codes.

    Both were selected in the WHL Bantam Draft by the Hurricanes and played in Lethbridge for an extended time. Estephan, who was picked fourth overall in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, was with the Hurricanes for four-and-a-half seasons, and Skinner, who was selected 17^th overall in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, played there for three-and-a-half seasons. They were in Lethbridge long enough to establish lifelong connections.

    On top of that, both joined the Hurricanes during a dark era, when the team missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons from 2009-10 to 2014-15. After the Hurricanes went 12-55-2-3 in the 2013-14 season, it seemed a death watch was surrounding the team. The Hurricanes existence in Lethbridge was called into question at times.

Giorgio Estephan in action for the Broncos in this year’s WHL playoffs.

    Lethbridge was not a prime destination in the WHL, and it seemed like players that were there couldn’t wait to leave.

    Things started to change when the Hurricanes hired Peter Anholt as the club’s assistant general manager before the start of the 2014-15 campaign. The veteran coach and hockey executive became the team’s head coach and general manager halfway through that campaign.

    Before the start of the 2015-16 season, he stepped back as head coach and made the inspired move to hire Brent Kisio for that role.

    On the players’ front, Estephan and Skinner were part of a group along with former Hurricanes captain Tyler Wong who wanted to be part of the solution in turning the team around. They played a huge part in helping the Hurricanes top the Central Division in 2015-16 with a 46-24-1-1 record.

    In 2016-17, they helped the Hurricanes post a 44-21-4-3 mark to sit seventh overall in the league. They helped the Hurricanes win two seven game series in the playoffs to advance to the WHL Eastern Conference championship series falling to the Regina Pats in six games.

    Wong graduated after that campaign, and Estephan and Skinner worked to assist a reloading Hurricanes club during the first half of this past season. They were not asking to be traded, and when an opportunity to make the deal with the Broncos came about, the Hurricanes gained players that could help in the present along with players and assets to be of aid in the future.

    Both Estephan and Skinner are pretty good persons too.

    Skinner sounded off on the Hurricanes fans following the Broncos 5-1 loss in Lethbridge in Game 4 last Wednesday. For everything they did in Lethbridge, the fan heckles Estephan and Skinner received in their playoff return to Lethbridge felt at least uncomfortable.

    Fans have the right to boo and give the raspberries to who they want, but in this case, it feels wrong. It feels like an unwritten hockey code was broken.

Stuart Skinner in action for the Broncos in this year’s WHL playoffs.

    In another case, netminder Tyler Brown backstopped the Pats into the WHL Championship series last year, where they fell in six games to the Seattle Thunderbirds. He was dealt by the Pats to the Blades in a blockbuster trade on Jan. 10.

    Brown had been the target of distain from a sizable group of Pats fans on social media and sports talk radio, when the team hovered around .500 for the first half of the season. When Brown returned to Regina with the Blades on Jan. 24, he was given a standing ovation and a video tribute.

    Of course, the big difference was Brown never did play against the Pats in the post-season.

    When the playoff series between the Broncos and Hurricanes wraps up, here is hoping the Lethbridge fans that got on both Estephan and Skinner remember what they did do for the Hurricanes and tip the cap to both whey they return to Lethbridge in the future.

    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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