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Broncos forward Cage Newans topped the team's offensive leaderboard, and was eighth overall on the league's offensive leaderboard, this season. (Submitted photo/Becky Zimmer)
Number 2 finish

Strong finish for Broncos, face Hawks in first SJHL playoff round

Mar 16, 2023 | 9:36 AM

With a second place finish to cap off the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s regular season, the Humboldt Broncos will now face the Nipawin Hawks in their first playoff round.

The Green and Gold wrapped up their 2022-2023 regular SJHL season with their final matchup in March 14 after some ups and downs throughout the year.

Assistant coach Carter Hansen said this is the best showing they could have hoped for with home ice advantage for their first round, and second if they can defeat the Hawks.

“We just played them about three weeks ago, it was a really good matchup. They’ve got a really good forward group, their D played pretty tough in front of their own net, and their goalie can stand on their head at any moment,” Hansen said. “It’s going to be a great series.”

With the league officially releasing the playoff matchups on March 11, the Broncos have already had a few days to prepare for their first playoff game on March 17. Hansen said it will be the little things that they will be focusing on like forcing the play to the outside and fighting for the rebounds in their own zones.

With two strong goalies in Benjamin Motew and Jared Picklyk, Hansen said they will keep alternating between them to make sure they stay mentally and physically prepared for what could potentially be a long haul through the playoffs.

“It’s brought us a lot of success (throughout the season). We’ve only lost five games since Christmas, doing that rotation back and forth, right. It’s kept them both fresh.”

With seven games in March to finish off the regular season, the Broncos finished 4-2-1 to capture second place in the standings, especially after a tight race with Flin Flon for that runner up spot.

Overall, the Broncos finished the season second in the Global Ag Risk Solutions division with Battlefords North Stars a tough rival with the amazing season they had.

In their 56-game season, most of their 15 losses were in that first half of the season with injury and illness taking its toll. When SJHL returned in the new year, the Broncos were back in top form with only six losses in 26 games.

This season has also been a success for most of the roster, with forwards Cage Newans and Lucas Ceccarelli among the top 20 scorers on the league’s offensive leaderboard. However, other players weren’t far behind with only 21 points separating the top nine players on the Broncos offensive board, including two defencemen— Daylan Weigel and Noah Barlage.

With four post-secondary commits for the green and gold this season, all to NCAA Division 1 schools, Hansen is sure there will be even more scouts on the lookout during the playoffs for their fall hockey rosters.

becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim