The Humboldt Broncos' game three win against the Estevan Bruins was their first home playoff game since the team's tragic bus crash on April 6, 2018 (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

Broncos Playoff Win

Broncos win first home playoff game this season

Mar 19, 2019 | 1:43 PM

The last time the Humboldt Broncos hosted a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) playoff game at Elgar Petersen Arena was April 4, 2018; a triple-overtime marathon in game four of the semifinals against the eventual league champion Nipawin Hawks.

Unfortunately, it was the last game the Broncos would play before the tragic bus crash on April 6, 2018 which killed 16 people and injured 13.

Fast forward one year, the Humboldt faithful created a true playoff-like atmosphere – cheering loudly, ringing cowbells, blowing horns, and all – on Monday, March 19 in game three of the Broncos’ quarter-final series against the Estevan Bruins.

The Broncos are focusing on the task at hand, which is to defeat the Bruins and move toward winning the Canalta Cup as SJHL champions. However, Monday’s atmosphere was noticed by head coach Scott Barney and the rest of the team.

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“It’s great when you have a crowd like that,” Barney told northeastNOW. “We’ve had great support here from the Humboldt fans all season long. The boys appreciate it. I know we do as coaches and an organization, and hopefully it’s the same [Tuesday].”

Broncos fans brought out their cowbells, air horns, inflatable noise makers, and sheer power from their lungs for game three at Elgar Petersen Arena (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

All 1,231 fans in attendance, a crowd nearly 200 larger than the Broncos first two playoff games last year against the Melfort Mustangs, were treated to a high scoring back and forth game. Both the Broncos and the Bruins trading two goals each after the first period. The prettiest was a breakaway by Mitch Zambon after he intercepted a pass at the Bruins blue line.

Broncos forward Mitch Zambon beat Bruins goaltender Grant Boldt on a breakaway in the first period (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

A blast from Bruins defenceman Jake Heerspink during a five-on-three power play put the Broncos down 3-2 early in the second, but two goals in a stretch of 29 seconds gave Humboldt a lead they would never look back from.

Rayce Ramsay, the Broncos 18-year-old goaltender, stopped the final 30 shots he faced to help his team secure a 6-3 win.

After game three, Ramsay sits with a 0.938 save percentage, tied for second in the SJHL playoffs. Although some were surprised to see him get the starting playoff gig ahead of teammate Dane Dow, who is two years older, has two more years of Junior A hockey experience, and played in more regular season games.

Barney said his team has a good problem to have.

Broncos goaltender Rayce Ramsay (bottom) used every inch of his body to stop 40 of 43 shots in game three against the Bruins (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff).

“We’ve had two good goalies here all year and Rayce has been great for us the last two months,” he said. “He’ll probably be in Kamloops (WHL) next year. It’ll be a little problem for us but that’s OK; it’s good to see kids move up and do well. We’re really proud of how Rayce is playing.”

The Broncos lead the best-of-seven series against the Bruins 2-1. Combining the regular season and playoffs, the Broncos have won six of seven games against the Bruins this year.

Despite the advantage in the head-to-head match-up so far, Barney knows the Broncos still have a long way to go before moving on to the SJHL semifinals.

“We played them earlier in the year,” Barney said. “They’ve had some additions since and have had one of the better records in the second half of the season. They’ve got a good team over there and they’re well coached, so we’ll see how it goes the rest of the way.”

The Broncos look to take a 3-1 series lead when they play the Bruins on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Elgar Petersen Arena.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow