The Humboldt Broncos did their part on Friday picking up a 6-1 win over the Nipawin Hawks on Friday night, but they didn’t get any help from the Kindersley Klippers, as the Battlefords North Stars swept the home and home set to claim the Nutrien Division and the sixth seed in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League standings.
As a result, the Broncos will head north for their first-round matchup against the Flin Flon Bombers, who finished second overall during the regular season.
On Friday, following a scoreless first period, the Broncos opened the scoring with Michael Dowdall sliding the puck into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The goal came shortly after the green and gold killed off a 5-on-3 penalty kill that lasted for 1:51.
After going scoreless in their last 17 attempts, the Humboldt power play was able to post a pair of goals. First, Kye Benoche fired in his 19th goal of the year after taking the pass from Jacob Strizzi and banking it in off the pad of Hawks netminder Nik Trakakis.
Less than four minutes later, Ryder Knutson’s shot deflected off a Hawks player in front and into the back of the net as the Broncos led 3-0 after 40 minutes.
In the final period, Dowdall capitalized on a turnover and fired a shot top shelf for his second goal of the game to extend the Broncos advantage.
Konnor Watson got Nipawin on the scoreboard and ended Dazza Mitchell’s bid for a shutout as he scored the final goal for the Hawks in the 2024-25 season.
Humboldt responded short-handed, after Connor Miller forced a turnover and found Rylan Hue who scored his 9th goal of the year.
Maddox Amaral capped off the scoring with 97 seconds remaining, banking in his 14th goal of the year.
The Broncos power play was 2/4 while they managed to kill off all five Nipawin power play attempts.
Mitchell made 22 saves to earn the victory.
After the game, Assistant Coach Carter Hansen was pleased to see the Broncos end their power play drought with a couple of goals that were not were not stylish, with the playoffs around the corner.
“There’s not going to be a lot of tic-tac-toes, hit the back of the net, it’s just way too tight.”
He added, “I think it’s good for these guys to realize, make a couple of passes around, you got to get that thing to the net.”
Along with a pair of goals on Friday night, Dowdall had a physical presence against the Hawks. After missing nearly six weeks due to an injury, Hansen said the Coquitlam BC product is back to producing the way he was before he was sidelined.
“That was such a green and gold performance out of a hockey player,” said Hansen, “he’s an absolute force out there and if keeps putting the puck in the net, that’s some great secondary scoring we’re going to need.”
At the time, the Broncos were not sure who their opponent but knew that they would begin their playoff chase away from the Elgar Petersen Arena. Hansen said if the Broncos can play their type of game in the postseason, they will be a difficult opponent.
“It’s not so much who we’re playing, it’s we need to play the style that we can play.”
During the regular season, the Broncos earned one victory against the Bombers, which came back in the end of October. Flin Flon won the season series by a 3-1 margin, the teams met for back-to-back games in October in Flin Flon and once again, back-to-back games in Humboldt in January, immediately following the trading deadline.
Game one and two are in Flin Flon, on Friday and Saturday night. The series will shift back to Humboldt on Tuesday, March 25 and Wednesday, March 26. If necessary, game five in Flin Flon will go Saturday, March 29, game six would be Monday, March 31 in Humboldt and the deciding game seven would fall on Wednesday April 2.
Here’s a look at the entire playoff bracket for the SJHL.
