New Broncos captain, Ethan Zielke, tries to work some magic in front of Notre Dame's net on Saturday night in Humboldt. (Becky Zimmer/northeastNOW Staff)

By Becky Zimmer

Humboldt's own

Broncos kick things off in the barn in SJHL season opener

Sep 18, 2022 | 8:42 AM

The Humboldt Broncos are back on the ice for their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) regular season as they battled the Notre Dame Hounds in their home opener on Saturday night.

The Broncos controlled every aspect of the game, taking down the Hounds 7-2.

Early and often was the name of the game as Broncos veteran Sam Marburg took it down the ice for the first goal of the night just 17 seconds into the first period.

This was followed in the second by two goals from Ben Kotylak in his first game in the green and gold jersey, and a goal apiece for Jace Benvie and Lucas Ceccarelli.

Ceccarelli again would score in the third with Daylan Weigel lighting up the scoreboard in the seven goals for the Broncos, including three on the power play. Will Dawson and Antoine Saint-Onge would answer back for the Hounds but it was not enough to steal the W from the hometown green and gold.

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Assistant coach Carter Hansen felt his guys played the whole 60 minutes in this season-opening match and that was evident in the shot clock with the Broncos taking 53 total shots on Hounds goalies Ashton Billesberger and Zane Winter, who came in for Billesberger following an injury early in the third.

New Broncos netminder Tristan Boileau stopped 12 out of 14 shots fired from the Hounds, another testament to what is also a hardworking defensive end.

“After it was 5-1 they could have maybe given up on the D side of things and just focus on offence but no, we shut down our own zone and that is what created all those chances for us in the end,” said Hansen.

With a lot of holes to fill in the roster, Hansen said he doesn’t want any of the new players thinking they need to be someone they are not.

“We bring everyone in for a reason to bring their special skill set and they did that tonight. We want guys to come in and be who they are.”

Part of the new season has been choosing the next leaders of the team. With the departure of former captain, Kade Olsen, the coaching staff has passed on the “C” to second-year Bronco, Ethan Zielke. In his 66-games rookie season, Zielke scored 11 goals and 27 assists for 40 points in the regular season and the Broncos’ two-round playoff run.

Zielke told northeastNOW there will be pressure this season with the new role but the team makes it easy.

“We have a lot of leaders on our team, guys can take care of themselves so it’s not like I’m babysitting anyone on the ice. Guys can handle themselves and handle their emotions so it makes my job easy.”

Following last year’s impressive run for the championship that came up short in the semis, Hansen said they are working for more of the same with a better ending this season.

“We show up at the rink every day expecting to win and we’re prepping the guys every day to win. Obviously, you’re not going to win every game but if we put together an effort like we did tonight, we’re going to be happy more times than not.”

Over 1,100 people stuffed the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt for the Broncos’ start of the 2022-2023 season.

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bexzim