Another provincial championship will soon be added to the rafters at the Elgar Petersen Arena thanks to the U13 ‘A’ Humboldt Broncos.
On Saturday, Humboldt completed their immaculate run through the ‘B’ provincial championship tournament, defeating the Moosomin Rangers 6-3, winning the best of three series 2-0.
Ben Hinz scored two goals with Hudson Odelein, Levi Coggar, Bennett Trann and Michael Corcoran also scoring. Ridge Beggs chipped in with three assists.
When the buzzer hit 0:00, Head Coach Chad Knaus said the team was ready to celebrate.
“We were up 5-3 and Moosomin were pressing hard, and we netted with an empty netter at 6-3 with 40 seconds left so our team was in the driver’s seat in the end and it was just total elation for the whole crew as we got to bring the banner home.”
Saturday’s win in Moosomin ended the U13 ‘A’ Humboldt Broncos dominant run, winning ten games over five rounds. In the ten games, Humboldt defeated their opponents by a combined score of 88-25.
Knaus credits teamwork as being a key to their success.
“We had the objective of always playing for each other. Making passes to each other and making plays that move the puck up the ice.
He added, “We had a really talented group with a lot of speed, so we used that to our advantage. This group is just so much fun to be around and they wanted to play for each other, and I think that was our key to success.”
It’s been a lengthy journey for the U13 ‘A’ Humboldt Broncos as their first-round matchup against Tisdale took place at the end of January.
Knaus felt the team was battle tested after competing in nine different tournaments this year.
“I think the grind of the tournaments set us up for success at the end of the year. Every tournament throughout the winter just forced our kids to push themselves as hard as they can, when it came to grind through the provincials, they found their legs and they were able to do well in those provincial games.”
According to Hockey Saskatchewan, this was the fifth time Humboldt won the provincial title in the U13 ‘B’ Provincial championship.
Members of the U13 ‘A’ Humboldt Broncos are:
#1 Jett Siroski
#30 Blake Knaus
#19 Wyatt Jackson
#20 Bennett Trann
#21 Kaiden Kruger
#22 Ridge Beggs
#23 Avery Michel
#24 Hudson Odelein
#25 Levi Coggar
#26 Franklin Hillier
#27 Maddax Parish
#28 Michael Corcoran
#35 Keegan Dust
#36 Ben Hinz
Coaches:
Head Coach Chad Knaus
Asst Coach Bryan Beggs
Asst Coach Trevor Michel
Asst Coach Jason Kruger
Photo: U13 'A' Humboldt Broncos