The Humboldt Broncos scored a pair of solid wins over the weekend.
On Friday Night in Nipawin, they clipped the Hawks wings in short order with an impressive 11-4 win. Newcomer Jacob Boucher struck twice in the first, as did four other Broncos to jump to a 6-1 lead by the end of the frame. Boucher would notch another pair for the hat trick during the evening. Joining in on the first period onslaught were Sam Marburg, Alec Saretsky, Ben Kotylak, and Cage Newans who would also score a hat trick on the evening.
Nipawin fought back in the second with a pair from league leading scorer Maguire Ratzlaff, but the Broncos would not be denied. Timothy Kim responded in the second for the Broncos leading into a late game surge for the Horsemen in the third. Veterans Newans, with the completion of his hat trick, and Marburg led the charge, with Boucher capping off the scoring
The story was a bit different on Saturday as the Green and Gold faced the much improved Melville Millionaires. The game followed a touching tribute to Terry Doc Henning, the appearance of three of Doc’s daughters from as far away as Halifax and Calgary, and a ceremonial puck drop by Honorary Colonel for the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and original Bronco, Les Gould. Gould spoke of the dedication of Henning and compatriots, Dr. Gerry Rooney and Elgar Peterson, and laughed about Doc’s propensity for using all of Main Street as his personal parking lot.
The Broncos jumped out in the first 10 seconds with a goal by Lucas Ceccarelli and a follow up by Ben Kotylak. Controversy swirled around a potential third goal, a beautiful wrap-around attempt by Maddox Amaral, but the puck stayed out of the net thanks to the glove of Millionaires’ goalie Kelton Pyne.
However, the tenacious Mills squad pressed the Broncos on numerous occasions, scoring in the third off the stick of Kayden Skulmoski. They continued to look threatening right up until the final whistle, leaving the Broncos with a 2-1 to wrap up the weekend.
The Broncos will be on the ice at home again next Saturday when the Hawks return. First it’s a trip to Kindersley on Friday to take on the Klippers.