Alec Saretzky earned two goals in the home game loss against Melville on Sunday. (Becky Zimmer/northeastNOW Staff)

By Becky Zimmer

LET'S GO BRONCOS

Broncos maintain first place in rare at home loss at the EPA

Jan 10, 2022 | 9:30 AM

A rare loss at home in the Elgar Petersen Arena (EPA) wrapped up the weekend of Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) action for the Humboldt Broncos.

Two games against the Melville Millionaires in the last week have meant two losses for the green and gold as the seventh-place Millionaires picked up six wins in their last 10 games with the first place Broncos now sitting with seven wins in their last 10.

“We earn a little respect in our own building by making it a hard place to play. Tonight, I didn’t think we did that,” assistant coach Rhett Blackmur told northeastNOW after the game.

The loss now brings the EPA losses to three total in the 18 home games the Broncos have had this season.

William Dyke also made a rare showing in the net and will be back again when the Broncos welcome the Notre Dame Hounds to the EPA.

Russia-Ukraine War

In a first, President Biden gives green light for Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles in Russia

13h ago

Riderville

Shades of 2007

Nov 15, 2024

Inflation

Rent inflation to slow in the next few years, Desjardins predicts

Nov 14, 2024

Dyke had a strong showing in net, said Blackmur, as he stopped 16 of the 20 shots on goal in the 5-3 loss to the Millionaires.

The Broncos started off strong as they held the Millionaires to only four shots on Dyke in the first period with Alec Saretzky’s 22nd goal lighting up the back of Melville’s net to kick off the scoring.

Moving into the second, Melville would take the lead with three goals in succession to bring the lead to 3-1 going into the third.

Tensions would start to rise in the second as well with the Broncos picking up 24 of their 65 total penalty minutes during the second followed by another 35 early in the third.

The Broncos would stage a comeback in the third with an unassisted and shorthanded goal from Lucas Ceccarelli and another from Saretzky leaving the Broncos down by one late in the dying minutes and Dyke out of net for the last four for a man advantage.

In the end, it wouldn’t be enough as Melville would add an empty netter to seal their own win.

A number of Broncos are maintaining their top skater spots on the league leaderboard, including Saretzky who now sits in fourth place with 46 points, only a few points off Estevan’s Mark Rumsey and Notre Dame’s Kevin Anderson. Humboldt’s Conner McGrath is still in first place with 53 points. Matthew Perkins and Braiden Koran also continue to share the top spots as they sit sixth and seventh place in the top skater standings.

Even with the loss, the Broncos continue to maintain their first place spot for now with 56 points and a 28-10-0-0 record. With a number of games postponed this past week due to COVID-19, the Estevan Bruins are close behind with 53 points and plenty of chances to gain some valuable points.

The Notre Dame Hounds will be at EPA to take on the green and gold on Jan. 11 while the Broncos try to keep that home-win record strong as the last half of the season continues.

—

becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim