For the fourth time in the last six days, the Humboldt Broncos will be back on the ice.
The Broncos will host the Estevan Bruins at the Elgar Petersen Arena tonight.
Following their first loss of the 2024-25 regular season to the Yorkton Terriers on September 27, the Broncos have rebounded by taking five of six points from a three-game weekend.
It started with an overtime loss to the Kindersley Klippers and then a pair of wins over the Klippers and Terriers.
Following the game on Sunday, Broncos Assistant Coach Carter Hansen said that playing at even strength is an important key for the team.
“It works out very well for us and I think we had our guys buying into that and now they can see the success of it.”
Six of the seven goals the Broncos scored on Sunday came at even strength.
One player who had a strong weekend was forward Jacob Strizzi. Over a three-game span, the Vaughan ON product found the back of the net four times. For his effort, Strizzi was named this past week’s winner of Forward of the Week in the SJHL.
Strizzi and defenceman Tre Fouquette lead the Broncos with eight points right now.
The Broncos will meet the Bruins for the first time on Wednesday night. Estevan is coming off their first victory of the year, defeating the Flin Flon Bombers after they dropped their first four games of the year.
Hansen said even though their win-loss record doesn’t show it, they are expecting a tough matchup against the Bruins.
“You got to give Jason Tatarnic (Bruins Head Coach) props, he game plans well against us, for some reason Estevan always seem to have our number. I know they have a younger team, they’ve been playing great the last few games, we can’t take them lightly, they’ve been skating really fast, putting pressure on opposing team's defensive zones. So, we got to be ready for these guys and not have a letdown after a big game.”
Estevan is beginning a three-game road trip in Humboldt. They will head to Kindersley and meet the Klippers for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.
Through 5 games this season, the Bruins are tied with the Weyburn Red Wings for the least number of goals in the league, with 13.
Coverage of tonight’s game on Bolt FM begins with the pre-game show at 6:45, opening faceoff is 7:00.