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Following a week-long break, the Humboldt Broncos are back in action tonight as they kick off a home-and-home set with the Battlefords North Stars.
The Broncos hope the pause in their schedule doesn’t slow down their recent momentum after beginning January going winless in their first three games (0-2-1), Humboldt has rattled off a five-game point streak (4-0-1).
Despite the point streak, the green and gold remain in 8th spot in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) standings but have created some separation from the La Ronge Ice Wolves, who trail the Broncos by seven points for a playoff spot.
Humboldt has also made-up ground on the teams ahead of them, now trailing the North Stars by only four points for 5th spot. Melville sits two points ahead of the Broncos, while Kindersley has a one-point advantage. Humboldt has games in hand on all three teams.
This weekend will mark the third home-and-home set between the Broncos and North Stars this season. Back in October, the two teams split the first two matchups with the home team picking up the win in each contest.
Earlier this month, it was the road team who walked away with the wins, Humboldt earned a 5-3 victory on January 17th while Battlefords won 5-4 in a shootout on January 18th.
The two teams will meet in one more home and home set, beginning on February 14th and 15th.
In February, home and home sets will dominate the Broncos schedule, including the two matchups against the North Stars, they will also face Kindersley in a pair of matchups (February 7 in Kindersley and February 8 in Humboldt.) along with a pair of games against the top team in the SJHL, the Melfort Mustangs (February 21 in Melfort and February 22 in Humboldt).
Even with the break, the Broncos shouldn’t be too rusty, with six players competing in the SJHL-MJHL Showcase this week in Winnipeg.
Defencemen Oakley McIlwain, Tre Fouquette and forwards Connor Miller, Jacob Strizzi, Boris Kofman and Kye Benoche had a chance to display their skills in front of scouts from the NHL, NCAA, USPORTS and WHL in the three-day event. Head Coach Brayden Klimosko was also in attendance as an assistant coach.
One player from the Broncos who will try and keep his personal momentum going tonight is Marik Mamic. Before the recent break, Mamic scored six goals in a three-game, with a pair of goals in each contest.
The pre-game show for tonight’s game begins at 7:15, with the opening faceoff at 7:30.
During the intermission of the game, we will hear from former Humboldt resident Reid Gardiner, who played in the Spengler Cup last month with his team from Oulu, Finland. This season, Gardiner is second overall in the Finnish League in goals and is third overall in points.
On Saturday, the rematch will take place at the Elgar Petersen Arena. Puck drops at 7:00. There will be a guaranteed 50/50 of $4,000 and there will also be a puck toss, all you need to enter is a donation of non-perishable food item which will be given to the Humboldt Food Bank. The winner of the puck toss will win a Meta-Quest VR Headset.