The Humboldt Broncos left it all on the ice in their final matchup against the Flin Flon Bombers. But in the end, it was not enough as the Bombers blanked the Broncos 5-0 on Monday night, winning the best of seven series 4-2.
Humboldt’s season came to an end without a goal in their final two games.
It was a close contest in the opening 20 minutes, with the Bombers holding a slight 17-12 advantage on the shot clock with opportunities on both sides to open the scoring.
In the second period, Flin Flon poured on the pressure, outshooting the Broncos 21-4, and posting a pair of goals on the scoreboard. One minute into the period, Luke Lepper scored what proved to be the game winning goal. 2:32 later, Joey Lies added some insurance with his first goal of the playoffs.
Any hopes of a Broncos comeback were quickly dashed in the third period when a fortuitous bounce landed on the stick of Rylan Ringor who buried the puck into the open net for his sixth goal of the playoffs, which currently leads the league.
Landon Alexander scored an empty netter before Reid Arberry finished off the scoring late in the final frame.
It was a busy night for Broncos goalie Dazza Mitchell who made 45 saves.
Bombers netminder Matthew Kieper extended his shutout streak to 120 minutes and recorded his third shutout of the playoffs.
On the power play, Flin Flon was 1/8 while Humboldt was 0/3.
Injuries didn’t help the Broncos playoff chances, already missing forwards Boris Kofman and Jeter Korte, they were also missing defenceman Liam Rodman and Connor Miller who went down during the series with Flin Flon.
After the game, Associate Coach Carter Hansen said the Broncos were dealt with a lot of adversity throughout the season.
“Anything and absolutely everything probably happened to us this year.”
He added the disappointment of the season coming to a close.
“It was a joy of a year, and it sucks that it’s over, but we made it a lot farther than a lot of people ever thought we were going to, and that’s (something) our guys should be very proud of.”
Monday’s game marked the end of the junior hockey careers for the eight year 20-year-old players on the Broncos roster, Landen Stromme, Maddox Amaral, Boris Kofman, Cade Kennedy, Tre Fouquette, Orin Olson, Liam Rodman and Dazza Mitchell. Hansen said the veterans were a special group.
“The 20-year-olds we had this year were fantastic leaders, they might not be the most vocal guys in the world, but they showed by example what a true leader is, what a true winner is, coming to the rink every day, preparing the right way. When they get on the ice in practice, games, anything, they were leading the way, doing the right things showing these young guys how junior hockey is supposed to go, just to set them up for future success, when they move on, and these other guys are here they know what to do.”
Among the 20-year-olds that Hansen praised was the captain of the squad in Stromme, who spent three of the last four seasons with the Broncos, with a detour to Dryden of the SIJHL following his rookie campaign in Humboldt.
“All he ever wanted to do in his four-year career was be a Bronco. He even moved halfway across the country to develop himself for another year just to come back and to put on the jersey, that guy bled green for four years.”
Next season may seem like an eternity at this point, but Hansen believes the struggles the green and gold this past season will pay dividends in 2025-26.
“In those struggles, we’ve also had a lot of young guys get to play a lot more games, a lot more minutes that they might have been accustomed to if we did have everyone healthy, I think a lot of young guys got to really develop and learn and grow this year.”
With the series win, Flin Flon will now move on to face the Weyburn Red Wings, while the other series will see the Melfort Mustangs take on the Yorkton Terriers.
